Agricultural Engineering Club members lay out recovered plastic to dry. Once dry, they flipped each sheet to dry again. Then the sheets were cut into strips and folded. The spread-out plastic covered over an acre of ground. Photo Courtesy Morrisville State College

Morrisville >> Eleven students from Morrisville State College’s Agricultural Engineering Club recently helped bring agricultural plastic recycling to DeBest Farm, DeRuyter, owned by Steve Best. It was the students’ way of contributing to an ongoing Madison County project, but also demonstrated that ag plastics can be recovered, put to better use, and kept out of landfills.

The students’ work helps promote “Recycling Agricultural Plastics Project,” a program launched by Madison County Department of Solid Waste last January. Ever since, farmers have responded by delivering more baleage plastic wrap, bunk silo film, greenhouse covers and other plastic products to all of the transfer stations and the main landfill on Buyea Road. To make the project more attractive to farmers, tipping fees have been waived. In the end, these plastic products are being converted to diesel fuel.

Once a critical mass of ag and rigid plastics is regularly collected, this project will become self-sustaining. With diesel fuel as the end product, it can be used internally at the landfill or help pay for milk runs to pick up ag plastics at-the-farm. These are just two examples in a list of possibilities.

“Madison County is striving to find a solution to effectively recycle agricultural and rigid plastic,” said James Zecca, director of the Department of Solid Waste. These efforts are arousing the interest of neighboring counties that have expressed interest in learning more about this new process and pledging to support Madison County’s efforts.

This program was organized by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Madison County.

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