Follow These Options To Manage Used Agricultural Plastics
STATE COLLEGE (Centre
Co.) The following are options
for managing used agricultural
plastics:
Your options today:
Option 1. Open Bum On-site
This option is unacceptable,
however, state law does allow
fanners to bum waste products
from the production of agricul
tural commodities, which in
cludes used plastics.
Municipalities are adopting
open burning ordinances that
override state laws and prohibit
burning of plastics by farmers.
Burning plastics results in high
concentrations of various air pol
lutants, especially when allowed
to smolder.
If you feel you must burn, at
least ensure that your fire is as
clean as possible by following
these guidelines.
• Remove ash from previous
bum. Wet ashes and plugged air
inlets create poor conditions for
complete combustion to occur.
• Bum it as hot as you can.
Add sticks or scrap lumber to
promote combustion. Smoldering
fires have flame temperatures
that are 400-600°F or less, releas
ing many products of incomplete
combustion.
• Give it plenty of air. If
you’re using a barrel, make sure
there are plenty of air holes. Bet
ter than a barrel, use a burner
with a grate for good aeration.
• Do not let it smolder. Pollu
tion increases when a fire smold
ers.
Option 2. Bury or Dump On
site
This option is unacceptable.
Farm dumps are becoming liabil
ities, especially when transferring
title to the farm. Banks, realties,
and various lending agencies are
looking critically at the farm
dump as an environmental con
cern.
Environmental professionals
conducting environmental site
assessments (ESAs) on farmland
during title transfers may uncov
er more liability than the seller
can afford.
Costs can exceed $lO,OOO for
laboratory tests alone.
Option 3. Haul to Recycling
Facility
Recyclers or reprocessors have
certain requirements before ac
cepting your plastics:
• Keep plastic types separate.
Most plastics don’t mix when
they’re melted during recycling.
If you don’t know the type plastic
you’re working with, ask your
supplier.
• Ship large quantities. Re
processing centers only accept
truckload quantities of
30,000-40,000 pounds.
• Must be baled or palleted.
Plastic should be baled or pallet
wrapped to fill a semi-trailer for
shipment. Bale sizes vary, but are
typically 800-1,200 pounds.
• Keep items clean and dry.
Reprocessors typically allow one
to four percent contamination by
weight. Loads are often rejected
if they’re dirty. Suggestions are
CEDAR CREST
EQUIPMENT
to: store bales indoors off the
floor; remove debris from inside
bales, such as material, rags,
tape, moisture, mud/soil, paper,
cardboard, or paperboard; dis
card other plastics like polysty
rene (Styrofoam) or polyurethane
(foam rubber); wipe off any oil or
grease; band with plastic strap
ping, not steel banding, twine or
rope. Currently polystyrene trays
and flats are being accepted from
Pennsylvania for recycling in
Canada.
Truckload quantities (about 26
pallets, shrink-wrapped) will be
picked up free of charge and you
will receive $BO per ton of resin
recycled.
Contact: Canadian Polystyrene
Recycling Association, 7595
Tranmere Drive, Mississauga,
Ontario LSS IL4, phone, (905)
612-8290.
Optioil 4. Haul to Waste-to-
Energy Facility
This is a great way to manage
plastic wastes.
Waste-to-energy (WTE) facili
ties convert the high heat energy
of plastics to steam, which in
turn generates electricity.
This is a great way to gain a
second life from your wastes.
The high bum temperatures in
these facilities achieve over 99.9
percent complete combustion.
Their popularity has been
hampered by negative public per
ceptions associated with stinky
smokestacks from old, obsolete
incinerators.
Today, emissions have been
Parts Stores: East Earl —717-354-0584 • Quarryville—
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 15, 2003-A4l
regulated to the point that they
are hardly perceptible, and cer
tainly not in concentrations that
are toxic downwind from the fa
cility. WTEs are safe.
Option 5. Hire Waste Hauler
Farmers are hesitant to pay a
private waste hauler to remove
trash. However, this is often the
option that might best suit your
situation. Most of this material is
landfilled.
To minimize pollution, all
landfills today are sealed top and
bottom, and many have leachate
and gas collection systems.
Landfill gas is used to supply
energy needs in the area.
Your Options Tomorrow:
Option 1. Produce Fuel Nug
gets
Penn State has developed a
process to density dirty plastics
into fuel nuggets. The nuggets
Franklin Co. Turf Meeting Feb. 18
CHAMBERSBURG (Franklin
Co.)—The Franklin County Turf
Meeting, Tuesday, Feb. 18 will
focus on weed, insect, and disease
control, plus there will be a ses
sion on marketing and a discus
sion of last year’s drought.
The turf meeting will help to
keep farmers current with indus
try changes and they can get the
PDA pesticide registration cred
its they need.
The meeting will be conducted
at the Franklin County coopera
THANK
YOU
for attending our
OPEN HOUSE.
We appreciate your attendance at
our Open House and
hope you were pleased
with our program.
If you have any questions
or would like further information on
certain equipment - please call.
Well be more than welcome
to demonstrate on your farm.
800-646
339 King Street, Myer;
are designed to be co-fired with
coal in existing boilers.
The end-use can be for agricul
tural boilers or for small commu
nity boilers designed to bum coal.
The nuggets can be made ei
ther on the farm or in small in
dustrial settings, thus consuming
the energy close to the plastic
supply.
The benefit of the system is
that it converts an annoying
waste into a valuable fuel, with a
minimum of energy expended in
the process.
Option 2. Haul to Waste-to-
Energy Facility
As mentioned earlier, these fa
cilities are very efficient at con
verting wastes to energy. As coal
and petroleum reserves dwindle,
these facilities will inevitably be
come more commonplace.
tive extension office in Cham
bersburg from 8:30 a.m. to 2:45
p.m. The cost of the program is
$25.00 per person and includes
lunch, snacks, and all program
materials. Pre-registration is re
quired.
For registration forms or addi
tional information, contact the
Franklin County Cooperative
Extension at (717) 263-9226.
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