Recycling your agricultural film

This collecting of agricultural film will help in the development of an effective recycling system for agricultural plastic. Currently, there is no law regulating the recycling of agricultural film, resulting in significant material loss. However, there is a strong interest among manufacturers to recover and recycle as much of it as possible.

—This initiative is an environmental gesture and a means to obtain domestic recycled materials, while also assisting farmers in waste management. We aim to develop a voluntary collection system benefiting both farmers and producers, says Mats Albäck, Sustainability and Development Director.

This initiative is an environmental gesture and a means to obtain domestic recycled materials, while also assisting farmers in waste management.

Mats Albäck, Sustainability and Development Director.

Rani Plast is one of the establishers of new plastic recycling organisation

Rani Plast is a part of the new national producer organisation, Suomen Maatalousmuovien Kierrätys Oy (SuMaKi). Planning of the system began in 2022, and 2024 will be the pilot year, concentrating first on bale wrap.

—The details are still being finalised, but the goal is to create a system that’s user-friendly for farmers and efficient logistically, says Mats Albäck. Plastic waste will be gathered through pop-up collections or directly from farms. Farmers can use the SuMaKi app or a website form to inform the organisation when waste is ready for collection. If they prefer, neighbors can collaborate and pool their waste at one location for collection and recycling.

The objective is to increace recycled raw material

SuMaKi requests that the plastic is as clean as possible, and sorted by colour, with white bale wrap in one pile and all other coloured plastics in a second pile.

—This is important so that we can reuse as much material as possible. The collected plastic will be cleaned, re-granulated, and transformed into new bale wrap and other products as well. The re-granulation process will be put out to tender.

Rani Plast’s bale wrap, RaniWrap EcoL, already contains 30 percent high-quality recycled raw material. It can be recycled repeatedly without compromising its quality. Rani Plast has long endeavoured to increase the amount of recycled raw material in its products, and the new collection system marks a further step towards closed loop recycling of agricultural products.

Rani Plast’s bale wrap, RaniWrap EcoL, already contains 30 percent high-quality recycled raw material. It can be recycled repeatedly without compromising its quality.

The collections will be free of charge, provided instructions are followed. The idea is that the system itself will generate revenue through the creation of new raw materials. For producers, it will operate like Rinki, where all commercial packaging incurs a recycling fee.

Rani Plasts delegate speaking about plastic recycling plan at Sarka trade fair

Mats Albäck and his colleagues have attended fairs and theme days to publicise this new collection and recycling plan, and will continue to spread the word in the spring. You can meet him at the Sarka trade fair in Seinäjoki on January 27-28, for example.

—The idea is maximum utilisation, and I encourage farmers to use this opportunity to dispose of their plastic waste. Information is also available on our website, and anybody with a question is welcome to contact us.

Read more at:

maatalousmuovienkierratys.fi

The website will be updated early in 2024, and the SuMaKi app will be launched simultaneously.

SuMaKi – Suomen Maatalousmuovien Kierrätys Oy.

What: a voluntary producers’ organization operating as a subsidiary of Sumi Oy.

Objective: to develop a system for collecting and recycling agricultural plastics (which is outside the scope of packaging producers’ responsibilities).

How: by implementing an “ordering system” with joint transport from farms.

Timetable: bale wrap collection will begin on 1 August 2024. Plastics collections will expand to silo film, baling twine, netting, silo wall wrapping, and plastics from garden centres and commercial gardens by 2025.