"TAKE IT ALL OFF"
FOR BETTER CONTAINER RECYCLING
by Cam Davreux, Vice-President, CropLife Canada

When it comes to empty pesticide container recycling, CropLife Canada wants Ontario corn producers to "Take it off - Take it ALL off!" It's part of a new campaign to keep the organization's highly successful container recycling program running smoothly. "All" refers to the labels, caps, tags and whatever else might impede the efficient recycling of spent containers. Through this program, empty plastic containers are recycled into granulated plastic that is made into fence posts for agricultural use, highway guardrail posts, or used for energy. Any paper or other paraphernalia attached to the container makes the recycling process more difficult and costly, so CropLife Canada is launching a program urging producers to "Take it All off," before they send their containers to the collection depot. CropLife Canada - the trade association representing the developers, manufacturers and distributors of plant science innovations

All Ontario material goes into the production of fence posts for agricultural use.

(pest control products and plant biotechnology) for use in agriculture, urban and public health settings - is committed to keeping this program running effectively. It is one of the greatest recycling success stories in Canada. Indeed, more than 600,000 containers were returned to depots in Ontario alone last year. Ontario farmers are good stewards -their returned containers are the cleanest from all across Canada. They have helped make the container-recycling program a world leader. Since its inception in 1989, CropLife Canada's national empty pesticide container program has removed and recycled approximately 55 million containers from farmsteads and the environment. The empty containers are collected from more than 1,200 sites across Canada. Currently, producers across Canada return on a voluntary basis approximately 70 per cent of all containers shipped into the market, the highest percentage return rate in the world for such programs. Although this initiative started with pesticide containers, last year CropLife Canada started including containers from the animal health industry in the program. The container-recycling program is a core part of the organization's stewardshipfirst™ initiatives, which responsibly manage the health, safety and environmental sustainability of the industry's products throughout their life cycle. CropLife Canada's stewardshipfirst™ programs represent the industry's fundamental pledge to responsibly manage their products. From discovery in the laboratory, to application in the field, through to storage and disposal, CropLife Canada's members are world leaders in stewardship, safety and accountability of their products. These efforts are aimed at ensuring the sustainability and viability of Canadian agriculture. CropLife Canada devotes a full two-thirds of its operating budget to its stewardshipfirst™ umbrella of programs. To learn more about these initiatives, I encourage you to visit our website at www.croplife.ca. I would like to acknowledge that CropLife Canada works in close partnership with federal and provincial governments, farmers, manufacturers, dealers and distributors, all of whom contribute making these initiatives successful.