On a roll: Saskatchewan farmers have already recycled 25% more grain bags this year

Rolled grain bags at a Saskatchewan Cleanfarms collection site ready to go to an end market to be washed, shredded and pelletized, and then recycled into new plastic bags. (Cleanfarms/supplied)

Farmers in Saskatchewan are on a roll when it comes to recycling their grain bags. Cleanfarms, a non-profit industry stewardship organization, says that farmers in the land of the living skies have recycled 25 per cent more grain bags this year than they did all of last year.

So far, close to 1,580 tonnes of used, empty grain bags have been turned in for recycling. In all of 2018, the first year of the government-regulated program, the total collected for recycling was 1,265 tonnes.

“With 2019 only at the mid-way point, and with a full harvest season ahead of us, we are expecting that we’ll see the year-end with a very successful recycling program for grain bags in Saskatchewan,” says Cleanfarms’ general manager Barry Friesen. “We have Saskatchewan farmers to thank for that. We are very grateful they are getting on board so enthusiastically with this recycling program.”

According to a news release, Cleanfarms has shipped 84 semi trailer loads of grain bags to a recycler in the southern U.S. where the bags are washed, shredded and the plastic pelletized so it can be used to make new products, such as plastic bags. Each trailer load holds about 120 rolled grain bags, meaning that more than 10,000 grain bags have been shipped for recycling so far this year.

As an example, the collection site at the Unity municipal landfill site – one of the busiest in the province – has already collected about 281 tonnes (281,000 kg) of grain bags so far this year. This translates into 16 semi trailer loads. An additional three loads are set to go in the next few days.

For a full list of where to recycle your grain bags, and other farm products across Canada, click here.

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