WHEREAS agricultural plastics and twine are recyclable materials generated by the agriculture industry and often sent to municipal solid waste landfills for disposal; AND WHEREAS diverting agricultural plastics and twine to recycling facilities will reduce the volume of non-biodegradable materials at the landfill; AND WHEREAS the BC Agricultural Councils Agriculture Environmental Partnership has a pilot to encourage farms and agri-businesses in BC to look to industry funded, environmentally sound and sustainable options for managing and recycling twine and agricultural plastic: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities provide information on the Agriculture Environment Partnership Initiative pilot and the issue of agricultural plastic and twine disposal to its member municipalities and regional districts; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Union of British Columbia Municipalities ask the provincial government to consider adding agricultural plastics and twine to the slate of product stewardship initiatives developed by the Ministry of Environment.
Ministry of Environment The Ministry of Environment has a Service Plan commitment to add two products to industry product stewardship every three years and packaging is one candidate product under consideration for a provincial stewardship program. Because of similarities with other plastic film packaging types consideration is being given to including agricultural plastics within the scope of this potential packaging collection and recycling system. Pilot projects in 2007 in the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen and on Vancouver Island were undertaken by local governments and community volunteers. These pilot projects demonstrated the technical feasibility and support among agricultural producers for an agricultural plastic recycling program. Any recycling initiative for agricultural plastics and twine led by the Ministry of Environment would need to be developed in close consultation with agricultural industry stakeholders.