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Cleanfarms announces that the Alberta Ag Plastic. Recycle It! program is extended to Dec. 2025

Cleanfarms announces that the Alberta Ag Plastic. Recycle It! program is extended to Dec. 2025 (GlobeNewswire)

LETHBRIDGE — Alberta farmers can continue to recycle their grain bags and twine thanks to a recent extension of the Alberta Ag Plastic. Recycle It! pilot program. Cleanfarms, the non-profit organization operating the program, announced that it will continue until the end of 2025.

This marks the second extension of the program, which launched in October 2019. Since its inception, Cleanfarms says this program has collected nearly 3.6 million kilograms (kg) of recyclable agricultural plastic.

But they say it’s not just about numbers. For farmers, recycling used ag plastic waste is a key component of their commitment to sustainability in their agricultural practices. “When we can roll up a few grain bags and take them to a collection site for recycling, it just makes sense,” says Dean Hubbard, a grain farmer near Claresholm, AB, “Especially when I know they’re not going to blow around on my property and they’ll be turned into new things that we can use. Of course I’ll do it.”

Farmers in Alberta play a vital role in preparing materials for recycling and often make the difference between whether a grain bag or piece of twine can be recycled or is sent to a landfill. By shaking the snow or clumps of hay off used twine before stuffing it in a bag or shaking the debris off a grain bag before rolling it, they ensure that these materials can be recycled and used as raw materials in manufacturing new products.

Recycled grain bags are turned into pellets, mostly here in Canada, which then get manufactured into products like silage plastic, dimensional lumber and agricultural fence posts that can be used on the farm. In the not-too-distant future, we expect to see them reemerge as new grain bags. Used twine is also pelletized and manufactured into items like greenhouse pots and trays, composite decking, car parts and more – all within North America.

“The entire agricultural industry is coming together to create sustainable solutions,” says Barry Friesen, Executive Director of Cleanfarms. “From farmers to collection sites, partners like APRG, Cleanfarms members, and recyclers, everyone is playing a vital role. Together, we’re building a circular system we can all rely on, not just for now, but for generations to come.”

Through the development of this program, the network has grown to encompass 49 collection partners, comprising 159 individual collection sites that collect either grain bags or twine, or both.