Vol. 450 No. 3
150 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the advice, if any, he would give to farmers using large amounts of black plastic to bale silage and who wish to dispose of the plastic in as benign a way as possible; and the advice, if any, he has on methods by which the quantity of plastic used in conventional farming can be minimised. [4824/95]
: A study carried out under the STRIDE Operational Programme for Ireland 1991-93 into the feasibility of recycling plastic sheeting used in the agricultural sector established that the heavy contamination of such material when used in agriculture mitigates against successful recycling. The study concluded that under current economic conditions (i.e. poor market outlets, variation of degree of contamination and high waste collection costs), polyethylene film recycling is not economically viable.
My advice to farmers is to collect and store all plastic and reuse as much of this sheeting as possible. Plastic film used to bale silage cannot be reused and should be disposed of in approved land fill sites. In this regard, participants in the rural environment protection (PEPS) operated by my Department are required to dispose of all un-usable plastic in this manner.
