The Agrecovery Chemicals recovery programme will be holding six regional collections for unwanted or expired agrichemicals early in the New Year.
Collections will be held in the Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Taranaki, Manawatu (including Ruahephu, Wanganui, Rangitikei and Horowhenua districts), Nelson and the Greater Wellington region (including Wairarapa and Kapiti).
Ten regional collections held during the 2010 – 2011 financial period resulted in just over 15,000kg of unwanted agrichemicals cleared from rural properties. The three largest collections were held in Canterbury, Otago and Auckland recovering 2,060kg, 1,921kg and 1,908kg respectively.
Debbie Sherwood, Coordinator for the Agrecovery Chemicals programme said “It’s great to see farmers and growers taking advantage of the programme to clear their properties of old or unwanted chemicals, but there’s still a lot left out there that we’d like to see booked for collection.
“Many chemicals are eligible for free disposal through the support of the 55 brand owners who participate in the Agrecovery programme, while others are subsidised through central government funding and other subsidies provided by some regional councils.
“We encourage farmers and growers to make the most of this funding and book collection with Agrecovery.”
Anyone wanting to dispose of unwanted agrichemicals needs to book with Agrecovery prior to the collection event. Booking deadlines are as follows:
• BOP and Waikato – bookings close 17 February
• Nelson – bookings close 2 March
• Taranaki, Manawatu (including Rangitikei, Ruapehu, Wanganui and Horowhenua) and Greater Wellington (including Wairarapa and Kapiti) – bookings close 9 March
Following the booking Agrecovery assesses which chemicals can be disposed of for free and which are eligible for subsidies for the cost of collection and disposal.
The booking process is easy and can be done online at agrecovery.co.nz where a simple search function allows users to select the agrichemicals they wish to dispose of. Otherwise they can ring Agrecovery for a booking form on freephone 0800 247 326.
The Agrecovery collection complements local household hazardous substances collection programmes, which are designed to remove small quantities of mainly domestic chemicals from homes in some regions.
In contrast, the Agrecovery Chemicals programme, launched in July 2009, is available for all primary sector users of horticultural and agrichemicals, including farmers, growers, contractors, veterinary clinics, golf courses and others. It is easy to use, safe and fully compliant.
The programme offers a fully auditable record of disposal which farmers and growers can use for NZGAP and other quality assurance programmes.
The Chemicals programme complements the nationwide agrichemical container, drum, silage wrap and crop protection net recycling programmes also run by Agrecovery.
Agrecovery’s chemical and container programmes are accredited by the Minister for the Environment as Product Stewardship Programmes under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008.