Published: 24 Apr 2018

A great turnout of farmers keen to find out more about options to deal with farm waste made for a successful field day.

The field day, held this week at the Orari Estate, had speakers from Environment Canterbury, AgRecovery, Plasback and Timaru District Council.

Around 40 farmers came along to get an overview of the regulatory environment around waste management, how to participate in current rural recycling schemes as well as find out more about future options.

It comes ahead of a rural recycling day taking place on 31 May in the Timaru District.

Timaru District is one of two districts in the country that are taking place in a pilot programme to provide alternatives for agricultural waste and help shape future options.

TDC Waste Minimisation Manager, Ruth Clarke, said that it was great to see so many farmers keen to find out how to improve their waste management performance.

“Many farmers are keen to improve environmental outcomes on their farms by adopting rural recycling practices.

“A key part of this project is not only outlining the highlighting the recycling options that farmers already have, but also to gauge the response to councils making these services more readily available.

“The rural recycling day being held in May will be a one-off at this stage, coming along to the field day enabled farmers to make the most of the day.

“With the great response we got to the open day, as well as the response that our colleagues in Matamata-Piako have had, we would recommend farmers make sure they book in to the recycling day on 31 May.”

The trial events are part of the New Zealand Rural Waste Minimisation Project led by Environment Canterbury with support from the Ministry for the Environment.

“Dealing with inorganic waste can be a challenge for farmers and growers. This project focuses on identifying alternatives to burning, burying and bulk storage on farms,” said Isla Hepburn, Environment Canterbury’s Senior Scientist, Environmental Quality and Hazards.

“By providing a reliable and cost-effective one-stop-shop approach to rural waste, we will be helping farmers and growers to participate in rural recycling

Last updated: 24 Feb 2021