Livestock and crop farmers interested in learning more about recycling plastics are encouraged to attend the upcoming Ag Plastic Recycling Stakeholder meeting Jan. 24 in Sauk Centre, Minn.

The daylong event, hosted by the Recycling Association of Minnesota and Minnesota Milk Producers Association, will be held at ElmerZ Restaurant and includes two off-site tours.

Brita Sailer, executive director of RAM, says 3.4 million pounds of ag plastic has been recycled in recent years since an Arkansas-based firm, Revolution Plastics, started setting up collection sites and dumpsters in certain areas of the state. More than 1,450 8-yard dumpsters are now in use, and RAM would like to see more made available.

“We’re going to talk about progress made [with ag plastic recycling] and where we’re going in 2018,” Sailer says.

Distance is main challenge
The challenge with ag plastic recycling is the distance involved in collecting the plastic across the rural landscape, Sailer says. Revolution Plastics established collection centers in Winona and Sauk Centre, and it has distributed hundreds of dumpsters at numerous locations over the past year, including the Pope County and Ottertail County fairgrounds. Farmers drove flatbed trucks to these locations and delivered dumpsters to their farms and to their neighbors. Other Minnesota counties active in ag recycling with Revolution include Douglas, Benton, Sherburne, LeSueur, Nicollet and Sibley.

The company works with farms that have an annual minimum of 2,000 pounds of eligible plastic to recycle, and that are within an 80-mile radius of its collection centers.

To help farmers have access to recycling that may not meet the company’s qualifications, Sailer says Revolution plans to offer new large recycling bags, called Recapture bags, each holding 200 pounds of recycled plastic. These will be sold five in a box to farmers. The company plans to coordinate pickup dates and locations of these bags all over the state.

“When 120 bags are collected at one location, Revolution will send a truck to pick them up,” Sailer says.

Meeting agenda
The Jan. 24 ag plastic recycling meeting, held in conjunction with MMPA’s dairy management workshop, is open to all interested farmers. Register at the MMPA registration webpage.

Here is the day’s agenda:

• 9 a.m. Registration at ElmerZ Restaurant and Event Center, 1225 Timberlane Drive, Sauk Centre, Minn., then leave for tour.

• 9:15 a.m. Tour of ag plastic baling facility, Sauk Centre hub — Bueckers/Waste Management

• 9:45 a.m. Return to ElmerZ Restaurant and Event Center.

• 10 a.m. Welcome from Minnesota Milk Producers Association and Recycling Association of Minnesota

• 10:10 a.m. Concurrent sessions

1. Minnesota Milk, “Alfalfa Forage Quality.” Scotty Wells.

2. “Boat Wrap and Greenhouse Film Plastic Recycling.” Multiple speakers.

• 11:10 a.m. “Why Recycle Farm Plastics? Because the Alternatives Aren’t so Good for the Health of People or the Planet.” Lois Levitan, Recycling Agricultural Plastics Program, Cornell University, retired.

• Noon. Lunch and Minnesota milk policy update

• 1 p.m. “Dumpsters and Recapture Bags.” Price Murphy, Revolution Plastics.

• 1:30 p.m. “Really Revolutionary Results, Minnesota Ag Plastic Recycling Program.” Brita Sailer, RAM.

• 1:50 p.m. “Successes and Program Results.” Partner counties, dairy and ag associations. Speakers include Al Christensen, Tri-County South; Caleb Anderson, Pine County; Nathan Reinbold, Pope and Douglas counties; Zach Fjestad, Otter Tail County; Doug Lien, Tri-County (North); and dairy industry representatives.

• 3:10 p.m. Leave for optional tour of JerLindy Dairy Farm, a participant in Revolution Plastics’ ag recycling program. The cost is $10 at the door. Cash only.

• 4:30 p.m. Return to ElmerZ and Event Center.

For more information about the meeting, call Sailer at 651-641-4560. For more information about Revolution Plastics, visit the Revolution Plastics website.   For more information about RAM, visit the RAM website.