Waipā farmers tackle rural waste at One-Stop Shop

Over 986kg of fertiliser bags, approximately one tonne of chemicals and 910kgs of chemical containers were dropped off by farmers at the rural waste One-Stop Shop event in Cambridge last week.

The free event enabled farmers and growers in Waipā to safely and sustainably dispose of farm waste, with 46 people taking part.

Agrichemical containers and drums, unwanted agrichemicals, used motor oil, scrap metal, seed, fertiliser and feed bags were all dropped off at the event.

Dairy farmers Craig and Julie Wards went along to the event to drop off empty 20 litre containers, waste oil and expired drench, and said it was great to have the option to do the right thing and recycle.

“The event was fantastic. It made it very easy to dispose of chemicals and other farm waste that would otherwise be tricky to get rid of in a sustainable and responsible way. We really appreciated the opportunity to do this.”

Containers will be recycled into underground cable covers and fertiliser bags will be turned back into woven polypropylene bags.

Waipā councillor and Te Awamutu dairy farmer Susan O’Regan said most members of the rural community are committed to finding safe and sustainable ways to dispose of on farm waste.

“The One-Stop shop event in Cambridge gave us the chance to work with farmers and growers to help them dispose of their farm waste in one go.

“We were delighted with the turn out to the event and the amount of waste collected.”

The One-Stop Shop was run by non-profit rural waste stewardship organisation Agrecovery with support from Waipā District Council.

Agrecovery held nine One-Stop Shop events around New Zealand in 2020, collecting over 6795kg of plastic from agrichemical containers and drums, 6594kg of waste oil and 5628kg of chemicals.

The events are an extension of the Rural Waste Minimisation Project, designed to tackle some of the barriers to recycling New Zealand’s rural communities face and raise awareness of recycling options for farmers and growers.

The programme is part-funded by the Ministry for Environment’s Waste Minimisation Fund.