A movement to recycle waste plastic from Northern Ontario farms has reached a new milestone.
The Northern Ontario Farm Innovation Alliance (NOFIA) announced April 16 it’s reached an agreement with Waste Energy Solutions and Technologies Inc. (WEST) to turn waste agricultural plastic into renewable energy.
WEST is a green-tech company, with a presence in Sudbury and on Manitoulin Island, that uses thermal dissociation anoxic (TDA) technology to break down waste plastic and transform it into gas, which can then be used to produce energy, heating or cooling.
SEE: Northern farmers seeking solutions to recycle plastic bale wrap
Under the agreement, Northern Ontario farmers will collect their plastic waste in a wooden compactor, and the bales will then be shipped to WEST’s Gore Bay facility for recycling.
Through the course of NOFIA’s plastics recycling project, which was launched in 2020, simple wooden compactors have been placed with individual farmers and at communal sites across the North, where producers can bring their unwanted plastics for collection.
NOFIA said it now has 41 partners throughout Northern Ontario, with 10 new compactors being added to the network in the last six months alone.
To date, 59 compacted bales of plastic have been recycled, which has reduced the improper disposal of plastics by roughly 25 metric tons, NOFIA reported.
SEE: Greening up the ag industry, one hay bale at a time
Yves Gauthier, NOFIA’s board chair, celebrated the achievement in a news release.
“The expansion of our plastics project, with the addition of more compactors and municipal partnerships, emphasizes our dedication to creating a sustainable agricultural sector in Northern Ontario,” Gauthier said in the release.
“The collaboration with the Manitoulin Island recycling facility is a testament to the potential for local solutions.”
One of the newest partners is the Township of Évanturel, a community in Timiskaming District, which will establish a central dropoff facility this summer, for use by agriculture, horticulture and aquaculture producers.
Details about the site are expected in the coming months, but the site is expected to receive a variety of plastics, including dual-sided plastic and bale wrap, as well as horticulture plastics.
SEE: Producers clamping down on farms' plastic waste
“The Township of Évanturel is proud to collaborate with NOFIA on this important initiative,” Reeve Derek Mundle said in a release.
“This site at 245453 Hwy 569 (former location of the municipal complex) will provide a valuable service to our local farmers and contribute to a cleaner, greener community. We are committed to supporting sustainable practices and look forward to the positive impact this partnership will have.”
Bringing municipal partners on board is the second phase of NOFIA’s multi-year plan, which is being funded by the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (SCAP), an initiative of the federal government.
NOFIA’s agricultural plastics recycling project is being rolled out in conjunction with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.
