Waikato farmers set the record for Agrecovery

12 July 2013

Waikato farmers set the record for Agrecovery

Federated Farmers is applauding the way Waikato farmers have embraced Agrecovery rural recycling. A record six tonne of hazardous horticultural, agricultural and veterinary chemicals was collected during the Waikato regional collection, finishing last week.

“Farmers are choosing to dispose of their chemical waste responsibly due to the convenience of the service,” says James Houghton, Federated Farmers’ Waikato provincial president.

“It is great to see increasing numbers of farmers using Agrecovery. It is another example of farmers changing their behaviour and working for the good of the environment without the need for legislation.

“Being environmentally friendly does not come free, so the money invested by our local councils enables the program to work and gain traction, which, as you can see, is having the desired outcome.

“Farmers buy-in to Agrecovery comes from a desire to look after our land, our water and the environment for today’s and tomorrow’s generation,” Mr Houghton finished.

Agrecovery Chairman, Graeme Peters, was equally buoyed by the record breaking collection.

“I am enthused by the huge uptake in the Waikato; it is five times the amount collected in Waikato last year and is the largest recovery on record,” Mr Peters added.

“The increase was largely due to the support provided by the Waikato Regional Council, the farmers and three of the region’s district councils, Waipa District Council, Hauraki District Council and Otorohanga District Council, who helped fund the recovery of chemicals.”

“We are pleased the councils were able to support this year’s collection making it the most successful we have seen.

“As well as helping to reduce user costs, they extended the event’s reach by promoting it through their networks. We were also able to use five transfer stations as drop-off points this year, which saved on-farm collection costs and meant we could collect more chemicals at no charge to the farmer, or, at a greatly reduced rate,” Mr Peters concluded.

Anyone with horticultural, agricultural and veterinary chemicals can log their unwanted and expired chemicals for the next collection with Agrecovery. Phone 0800 247 326 to request a booking form.

Collections are demand based, but are generally held in most regions of New Zealand every 12 to 24 months.

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