Summary of the Meeting
The meeting contained information about, legislation, schemes and future options.
Agricultural waste in the context of this article should be taken as
meaning "all substances or objects from premises used for agriculture,
which are discarded by the holder" (Burges and Salmon, May 2005). The
NFU presentation referred to a similar definition. Michael Ellingham
outlined a few possible exemptions to the directive. These included:
- The temporary storage of waste waiting for collection for up to 12 months,
organic waste applied to farmland which will improve the land, for example,
muck spreading or dredging material (but may require farmers to pre-notify
the EA) and burning plant material. Manure and slurry can be classified
as waste in accordance to the directive under particular circumstances.
Implications of the regulations include:
- The banning of farm tips and open burning on the farm, without a Landfill Permit.
- When the directive comes into force farmers will have 12 months to apply for exemptions and licenses.
- Farmers and growers do not have to register as a waste carrier to take the
waste off farms for disposal or recovery to a licensed site. A duty of care
certificate should be given to the grower or farmer for each load of waste
deposited at the licensed premises.
- If a grower or farmer wants to set up dispose of waste on their own land,
then they have to apply to the EA for a waste management licence or a landfill
permit.
The fact that a number of collection schemes have been set up in the past,
many of which are no longer in business, was discussed. This was done for farmers
that may be interested in diversifying into collecting waste. One such scheme
discussed was Stroud District Council's trial Black Plastic Scheme run in 2003/2004
in conjunction with Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG), NFU and the EA.
This scheme used a company called Plasmega that has now been bought out by Tarmac,
based at Sharpness. The scheme collected data for the trial within a 14 miles
radius of the depot; one machine could transport 11 tonnes of black plastic.
In total before the scheme collapsed, the trial collected 138 tonnes, from 79
farms in Gloucestershire. The black plastic collection scheme's downfall is
believed to be partially due to poor advertising of the service.
Frequently found problems included:
- The misidentification of the weight of plastics people had ready for collection. Plastic looks bulky but is not that heavy; council would send out vehicle which costs £265 a day to run and the lorry would not be filled; proving not always to be cost effective.
- Risk assessment had to be completed on site at every collection, which proved very time consuming.
- Collection had to be organised when the farmer was on site.
One way to overcome the problem of misidentification of weight of the plastic
is to bale the plastic. Agritel sells machines that can bale plastic into a compressed
form, which are of known weight (minimum 250 kg) and can be stored inside or
outside. The process of condensing the plastic involves employing industrial
waste balers with press forces of approximately 20 and 50 tonnes. This reduces
the volume by roughly 90%.
Agritel is certified as a waste broker and carrier and can:
- Provide registration with Defra (Department for Environment food and rural affairs) for exemption certificates for baling activity under Paragraph 7 Schedule 3.
- Provide transfer notes.
- Make sure the customers farm is fully environmentally compliant with the new directive.
The price of an Agritel baler ranges from £5000 upwards. For further information
about Agritel balers please contact John Morgan (Telephone: 01691 671496 Email:
john.morgan@agritel.co.uk)
It was pointed out by the NFU representative that there may be local initiatives for collection schemes to be set up under. The Business Resource Efficiency and Waste (BREW) Programme that has been launched by the government, which was discussed in the groups' workshop led by Rob Wise, was also discussed. BREW's objectives are: to look at all farm plastic wastes, create UK solutions where possible and to be state aid compliant. BREW has approximately million pounds to spend over three years and will be "Recycling Landfill Tax revenues back to business" (Rob Wise, Agricultural Waste Update, 27.04.05).
A few companies were discussed when talking about various schemes, these included; Evolution Polymers, which wash farm films and have a recycling plant, this company is currently involved in the Somerset FWAG Scheme and have a plant in Wales; 3DM who recycle plastic into fence posts and similar structures; and it was mentioned that there is a plastic processing plant located at Aston Down.
In the near future a recycling directory is going to be compiled for farmers of places that can help farmers comply to this directive. Having a return scheme similar to those which run in the horticultural industry was also discussed, as may be a way for agricultural manufactures to approach the directive, aiding farmers to comply. It was also highlighted in the majority of presentations during the course of the meeting that landfill could be a limited option and will increase its toll fee over time.
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