Pesticide container recycling up 25% in Virginia

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services announced this week the results of the 2012 Plastic Pesticide Container Recycling Program.

More than 88,000 pounds of plastic pesticide containers were collected at 29 sites, including 17 localities, ten licensed dealers and commercial applicators and two private agricultural producers. Localities included the counties of Accomack, Brunswick, Culpeper, Dinwiddie, Frederick, Isle of Wight, Madison, Mecklenburg, Northampton, Orange, Prince George, Rockingham, Southampton, Surry, Sussex and the cities of Chesapeake and Virginia Beach.

The 2012 collections exceeded the previous year by 25 percent. Since inception, the program has collected more than 1.2 million pounds of plastic that were granulated and then remanufactured into new products. The program is an environmentally-responsible alternative for container disposal. Granulated chips are transported to recycling facilities and fabricated into items such as pallets, fence posts, field drain tiles and parking stops, keeping the containers out of landfills.

"I was delighted to learn that we increased the number of pounds collected this year by 25 percent,” said Matthew J. Lohr, VDACS Commissioner. “That means fewer pesticide containers ending up in Virginia’s landfills. The recycling program, like the pesticide disposal program, is a win-win-win situation that benefits farmers, pesticide dealers and the general public equally.”

To participate in the Plastic Pesticide Container Recycling Program, a locality must apply to VDACS and agree to collect, inspect and store the properly-rinsed containers until granulation. VDACS assists with reimbursement costs to each participating locality to offset the cost of the program.