Linn MFA outpaced by twice the number of anticipated tons of plastic wrap that would be recycled in just half the time, as in the first six months (December 2020 – May 2021) of baler operation, a total of 34 different farmers have made 72 trips to provide a total of 20 tons of donated agriculture plastic – the annual goal for recycled plastic.
The goal of this project is to reduce the amount of agriculture-related plastic (especially hay bale wrap) that is left in fields or burned. Made possible by a $10,000 grant approved in March by the Mid Missouri Solid Waste Management District (MMSWMD), the baler was purchased in mid-November.
“This process has been very smooth,” said Linn MFA Manager Michael Rost, noting that this will benefit all farmers in Osage County, with bags provided to people in Meta and Chamois. “The way producers handle their plastic has been great. They’ve taken care of it and we appreciate that effort because it makes baling a lot easier.”
Although the project received approval from the Department of Natural Resources in late February 2020, COVID delayed the kick-off of the project until November of last year.
Rost was able to find a used baler that was within the $10,000 maximum limit for the grant from MMSWMD.
Revolution Recycling of Arkansas provided 100 boxes of large plastic bags to distribute to interested farmers so they could store the used plastic wrap and then bring it to MFA in the plastic bag. Once the recycled plastic collected by Linn MFA has reached 40,000 pounds, Revolution Recycling will send a truck from Little Rock, Ark., to pick up the bales. In their manufacturing plant in Arkansas, they will turn the waste plastic into new plastic pipes. Revolution Recycling will not charge for picking up the bales, but won’t provide any payment to Linn-MFA for the bales.
Rost said he has not contacted Revolution Recycling yet, hoping to get a few more bales in place to send a fully-loaded truck back to Arkansas.
Rost and his staff have provided a total of 90 hours of time operating the baler and supporting the recycling operation. Their time is valued at $1,625. MFA has also added $1,062 of materials in setting up the baler. The Osage County University of Missouri Extension Council contributed $400 in 2020 and also a second $400 contribution in 2021. These contributions total a match of $3,487 or 72% of MFA’s project match of $4,802.
This project is the first of its kind in the state of Missouri and may be replicated.
Producers are asked to use only bags provided by MMSWMD for this project so the district will be able to accurately estimate future costs of similar projects. However, Rost said that even if producers have not received collections bags, MFA will accept any amount of waste Ag plastic they have, even if it’s just a few bales worth. He noted that MFA has more waste collection bags available to be dispersed as well.
Silage/grain bags, bunker covers, greenhouse film, and drip tape are the primary recycling material to be accepted. The cleaner the wrap the more effective the recycling process is, but farmers should note that net wrap or twine under the plastic wrap, plastic jugs, or other waste materials cannot be accepted because contamination by these items could result in the cancellation of this pilot project.