This article is from page 38 of the 2007-03-20 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 38 JPG
A PILOT plastic collection scheme, conducted in conjunction with Clare County Council last year, 1s to be ex- tended to the rest of the country and could provide the solution to the farm plastic issue which has plagued Irish farmers for the last number of years. The Irish Farm Film Producer Group (IFFPG) and the Irish Farmers As- sociation (IFA) have announced the agreement of a major deal with the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Dick Roche, to
clear the accumulated backlog of plastic all over the country.
Over the next seven week services will begin in seven new counties, Cork west, Cavan, Donegal, Kilken- ny, Meath, Sligo and south Tipperary, which will see farmers bringing bale wrap and silage covers to designated local authority collection centres.
There will be no charge for this service and the accumulated plas- tics will be delivered to authorised recycling facilities. The scheme will be extended to farms in Cork east, Kerry, Limerick, Laois, Monaghan,
Westmeath and Wexford during June and July.
The final phase of the project will focus on Dublin, Kildare and Louth during September and October.
“The scheme to date has been rolled out on a phased basis because we know there are significant back- logs to be collected. It also gives local authorities sufficient notice to agree and put in place the necessary arrangements for collections in their areas,’ said Minister Roche.
Under the Spring Clean project, each local authority listed will organ-
ise, on a once-off basis, special open days to allow farmers in those coun- ties to deposit their stockpiled farm plastic. This service will be free to the farmer and funding to assist the local authorities will be made avail- able from the Environment Fund.
The IFFPG have been having dif- ficulty collecting all of the plastic waste produced by Irish farmers over the last number of years. The prob- lem is a result of illegally imported plastic which is not subject to a levy which goes to the IFFPG to support the proper disposal of the plastic.