The Irish Rural Association has called for a full investigation into the farm plastic industry in Ireland after having discovered a “serious amount of stockpiling” in contractors’ yards.
Concerns have been raised by the association as to what happens to the plastic after collection and whether the “stockpiling of farm plastic” was in line with the permits issued.
Farmers pay a levy when they are buying plastic wrap, and again when they bring it to a bring centre for collection by an Irish Farm Film Producers Group CLG (IFFPG) contractor.
“Farmers are doing their bit in a big way on this recycling task and are not having piles of plastic lying around or burning it,” spokesperson for the Irish Rural Association Jackie Flannery said.
‘Stockpiling’ of farm plastic
Photos taken by Flannery, who questions the duration of time this plastic has been on site and the lack of effluent collection points, show “rather high and wide” piles of farm plastic in yards.
Following the visit of the IFFPG contractor’s site in Killorgan Co. Kerry, the association said a “small amount of the stockpile was removed for recycling at the site”.
There was also a “site notice up following inspection on site for [an] extension to [the] concrete yard for short-term storage/transfer of farm plastics and all associated site services”, she said.
A Co. Cavan site has a “similar site notice and all with the inclusion of an effluent collection area and more storage to their yard for short-term storage and transfer of farm plastic”, she added.
The Irish Rural Association also recently visited the site in Kilcummin, Killa, Co. Mayo and said that the “height and length of the stockpile there is very questionable”.
IFFPG
The association previously shared its findings with members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which recently discussed the matter with the IFFPG and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC).
The committee has been urged by the association to seek from the department an independent external review on the working methodology of IFFPG, which is the national, not-for-profit recycling compliance scheme.
The IFFPG is 70% funded through the recycling levy charged to companies placing plastics products on the market, and 30% through a weight-based collection charge to farmers. A 70% recycling target must be achieved by the group.
The association is calling on the committee to recommend a full disclosure of the group’s finances; a stronger and more secure contract for independent contractors; and a “proper” farm plastic management system.
The farmers of this country are “entitled” to know where their money goes to, the association’s representative, who described the matter as a “very serious environmental issue”, said.
At the recent meeting, IFFPG manager Liam Moloney said that all of the four collectors have waste permits which allow them to store the materials, however, there are a “couple of contractors” where the volume is a “little excessive at the moment”.
“So at any given point there is material in yards. We are moving it all the time but that is just a reflection of the business – huge volumes of material coming in.
“Everything that comes in is recycled but sometimes there is a little lag between coming into the yard and going for recycling,” Moloney said.
Moloney said that there are measures in place to clear out those yards in advance of the 2024 season and to recycle the 15,000t that are currently carried on yards and a further 25,000t of farm plastics.
Storage of silage bales
Farmers have recently been reminded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) about the storage requirements for silage bales, including high dry matter silage or haylage.
As of this year, silage bales can only be stored a maximum of two bales high, in the absence of adequate facilities for the collection and storage of any effluent that may arise, the DAFM said.
Bales must continue to be stored at least 20m from surface water or a drinking water abstraction point, as required under the previous Good Agricultural Practice for Protection of Waters Regulations (GAP) regulations.