Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Producers of plastic baleage and silage wrap may soon have to pay towards efforts to increase its recycling, but the Government said it had no immediate plans to ditch the plastic used.
Baleage and silage were wrapped in plastic to preserve the quality of winter farm feed, but growing calls to improve recycling rates or find an alternative to plastic had been growing.
On Monday, the government opened consultation on its proposed 'Green Farms' scheme, which would regulate agrichemical containers, wraps and other farm plastics.
The proposals would require manufacturers and importers to pay a levy to contribute to the recycling of the product.
Environment Minister Penny Simmonds said the regulations were designed to help Aotearoa achieve similar recycling rates to Ireland, where 90% of farm wrap was collected in 2021.
"The objective would be that, after a period of time, they would get to a 90% return rate," she said.
A fee of $462.0228 per tonne of bale wrap and $462.02 per tonne of silage sheet was proposed, or an estimated 52 cents fee per bale of feed.
The discussion document said the levy would have little impact on consumers, with the fee only accounting for an estimated 0.87-1.73% cost of the plastic wrap.
The proposal would replace two voluntary product stewardship schemes run by Agrecovery and Plasback since 2006. The schemes had offered collection for some farm plastics to reduce the amount of waste ending up in landfills or the environment.
The Ministry for the Environment endorsed both schemes until 2024, saying they had made steady progress, but engagement by producers and farmers had plateaued.
"Plasback collected around 5500 tonnes of bale wrap and silage sheet for recycling in 2022, and around 6100 tonnes in 2023," it said. "This is about half of the total quantity of these products sold in the preceding year."
Plastic wrap usage was growing, with 9000 tonnes used in 2017, compared to 13,516 tonnes expected to be used this year.
The regulations aimed to address the shortcomings of the voluntary schemes, creating a level playingfield for producers, avoiding "free-riders" who did not pay their fair share, free-of-charge plastic collection for isolated farmers to prevent the burning or burying of plastics, and enabling the Government to enforce the requirements.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
New Zealand's meat and dairy exports may also benefit, as European and British supermarket chains now required evidence of sustainable production.
Clinton-based agricultural contractor Fraser Leslie, who ran Southern Cultivation, said he was sick to death of seeing the plastic discarded and welcomed the proposed scheme, but it would not be a silver bullet.
"It's good to see some more carrot and it's good that the farmers might get some more money out of the scheme, which might promote them to do some more recycling," he said.
"There's still going to be farmers who don't pick up the plastic and that's going to be the underlying issue."
Plastic wrap was everywhere in South Otago, including across paddocks, roadsides and waterways, while some farmers still burned or buried it, he said.
Otago Regional Council banned burning most plastics, but made an exception for polyethylene, which most bale and silage wrap was made of.
The council said it encouraged farmers to follow good practices with bale wrap and silage sheets, and to recycle.
Leslie said it was stupid the council did not ban burning the plastic, considering it was banned by another neighbouring council.
"There's farmers that have farm land in Southland and Otago, and in one place, they can burn it and one place, they can't," he said. "That seems absolutely ridiculous - we're all breathing the same air."
Most regional councils banned burning plastic, but Leslie said they needed more powers to enforce their rules.
"If they are burning it, they need to be prosecuted over that," he said.
The consultation document said there were some barriers to improving management of farm plastics, including a lack of alternatives to plastic and lack of awareness among farmers about those available.
Producer Biowrap was using a biodegradable solution that combined plastic with an organic additive, which made it recyclable and allowed it to break down in landfills.
Director Matt Emerson said it was not like compostable plastic, which broke down outdoors, and his product remained inert, until it was in a landfill.
"It attracts microbes in a landfill, thinking it's food, and they digest it, leaving a humus-like fertiliser material behind," he said.
They want to get the bale and silage wrap product just right, before approaching the government for possible waste minimisation funding.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Minister Simmonds said it would be difficult to get a biodegradable alternative that could preserve feed year-round without breaking down.
More testing was required, but Simmonds was open to an alternative.
"At the moment, it hasn't been well enough tested that farmers would be wanting to use it, replacing the existing system," she said. "The other thing is biodegradable would mean it would have to go into landfill and when it goes into landfill, there's possibility of emissions from it.
"We are trying to reduce the amount of organics that are going into landfill, because that is part of our emissions reduction. Being able to recycle the plastic and reuse it again is preferable for us.
"There is potential to fund alternative products through the recycling scheme. If it occurs and the funding is there, then there would be an expectation it would look at what options might occur over time."
The consultation proposed two options - adding new regulations to the existing Waste Management Act or maintaining the voluntary status quo.
If no action was taken, participation in any scheme was unlikely to increase, collection demand would not be met, on-farm disposal through burying or burning would not decrease, and producers would not be incentivised to remain in a voluntary scheme, the Ministry said.
Consultation is open until 1 June.
