Alberta Ag-Plastic pilot program continues, expands with renewed funding

The Government of Alberta has renewed its funding and approved a two-year extension for the "Alberta Ag-Plastic. Recycle It!" pilot, a program launched in 2019 to provide farmers in the Canadian providence of Alberta with sustainable solutions that manage used plastic baler twine and grain bags. 

The pilot is operated by Cleanfarms, an Etobicoke, Ontario-based nonprofit group that focuses on sustainability-related agriculture initiatives, in partnership with the Agricultural Plastics Recycling Group (APRG), an Alberta-based coalition of recyclers, commodity groups, farmers, municipalities and nonprofits. These organizations share a mission to advance responsible agricultural plastics management across the province. 

In addition to growing established operations, the organizations say the funding will support the expansion of the program, including a project aimed at collecting used silage plastic and bale wrap in targeted regions of the province. 
 
The organizations say the program is valued within Alberta’s agricultural community, with farmers having returned more than 4.9 million kg of agricultural plastic to collection sites for recycling. That amount is equal to approximately 260 semi-trailers full of grain bags and 38 semi-trailers full of twine—enough twine to wrap 1.8 million large square hay bales, according to the program. 

"Alberta Agriculture’s ongoing support of the pilot has allowed farmers to adopt more sustainable practices for plastic waste, while also helping to determine what an effective permanent program may look like,” says Assar Grinde, APRG chair. “The pilot has had great success with grain bags, and we are excited to build on the huge growth in twine collection volumes over the past year." 

The renewed funding will be used to launch the second edition of the Great Twine Round-Up, a collection contest that encourages Albertans of all ages to collect used baler twine for recycling, with cash prizes awarded to local charities and 4-H clubs. In the first year of the contest, the program says participants brought in an estimated 16,500 kg of used plastic baler twine for recycling. 

The organizations say it’s estimated that up to 3,350 metric tons of bale wrap and silage plastic are used by cow-calf operations, cattle feeders and dairy farms in Alberta each year. The insights gained from this endeavor will inform the design of a future collection system across Alberta for bale wrap and silage plastic. 

“We’re proud to be working with the APRG, the Government of Alberta, Alberta Beef Producers and all of Alberta’s hard-working ranchers and producers to continue evolving this program,” says Shane Hedderson, Cleanfarms director of western Canada. “As is the goal of all Cleanfarms programs, we aim to support farmers and contribute to the emerging circular economy in Alberta agriculture through this project.”