Mornington Peninsula Shire in Victoria is encouraging farmers to keep silage wrap out of landfill.
In conjunction with the local branch of Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) and Solo Resource Recovery, the council is trialling a new silage wrap recycling program. The program encourages farmers to bring used silage wrap to the Mornington Resource Recovery Centre, where they can exchange a full bag of wrap for an empty one at no cost.
Hay wrapped in airtight layers of plastic is of much higher feed value than unwrapped hay and previously farmers have had to send used wrap to landfill. The Mornington Peninsula branch of the VFF approached the Shire seeking a local recycling scheme.
VFF branch vice president Geoff Coghill met with the Shire’s Waste Services Operations Officer Peter Barton and Solo Resource Recovery’s Jim Selby and agreed upon a recycling scheme.
Geoff Coghill and Peter Barton agreed that as a best practice sustainable activity, this initiative meets the objectives of both the Shire and the VFF.
Mornington Peninsula Shire Mayor Councillor Bev Colomb said, “This new initiative is a great step forward in our effort to reduce waste on the peninsula. “The silage wrap will be recycled into a range of products such as matting, fencing materials, road barriers, black builder’s plastic and heavy vehicle tracks. I encourage all peninsula farmers to join the program and help fight our war on waste.”
Farmers may exchange full ‘Bulka bags’ of clean used silage wrap for an empty bag at the Shire’s depot in Watt Road, Mornington.
‘Bulka bags’ are large lightweight bags capable of holding 1m3 or 1 tonne and can be purchased at the depot for $10. No other hay net, twine or plastic will be accepted.
