P.E.I. farmers dispose of unused farm pesticides and medications despite COVID-19

P.E.I. farmers have been dropping off their unused pesticides and animal medications in high numbers, despite concerns that COVID-19 would cut into the disposal program held every three years.

Cleanfarms operates the program, funded by industry, which has been offered across the country since 1998. 

"Before the program started, farmers wouldn't have great options to dispose of them, so they would probably have to go in the landfill," said Barry Friesen, executive director of Cleanfarms. 

"So this is a great way to manage these things safely and effectively."

Friesen said the program operates every three years, rotating across the country.

"Farmers don't need to come every year usually, because they have chem sheds and they store their unwanted materials in there between the years," Friesen said. 

"We do exit surveys, and our experience is every three years is good enough." 

The last time the program was offered on P.E.I., in 2017, more than 26 tonnes of unwanted farm chemicals were collected.

Friesen said the programs are expensive to operate, because the products will be shipped to an incinerator in the United States.

"These materials are safe to use in accordance with their directions, but when a lot of the stuff is very, very old, it needs to be managed and safely disposed of through high-temperature incineration," Friesen said. 

"As a result, we want to make it efficient, because ultimately it is a cost for the industry to pay for, and so the three-year time frame works really well." 

COVID concerns

This year, Cleanfarms also held collection events in British Columbia, Quebec and southern Saskatchewan.

Friesen said there was some concern how the COVID-19 pandemic would impact the program.

"We worked very hard to make sure that we offered a program with minimal contact between human beings to avoid the spread of it," Friesen said.

"Effectively, our response this year has been as good as any."

Friesen said the weather this fall has led to higher numbers of materials being disposed of than some years, as most farmers have finished their harvest.

"Like anything, when the weather is very, very poor out there, people don't want to go outside and they might think twice about cleaning out their chem sheds," Friesen said.

"But in this case, the weather was good. We didn't have snowstorms. We didn't have anything to prevent people from coming out and dropping off their product."

Free disposal

The McCain facility in New Perth, P.E.I., is one of seven collection sites across the Island.

"We've had somewhere between 30 and 40 growers drop off any obsolete pesticides that they've had in storage, or on their farm, for the last three years," said Benny Nabuurs, manager of crop protection for McCain Produce.

"They bring us anything from products that are no longer registered for use in Canada, or products that they no longer wish to use, or part containers that have, for some reason, not been able to be sprayed on their crops." 

Nabuurs said liquids are put in drums, then sealed and capped, and dry products are put in on pallets to keep them secure until they are shipped off the Island.

"There would be instances where they have some defective product that will not dissolve in their applicators, or for some reason, a label has fallen off the jug and they're not certain what the product is, " Nabuurs said.

Nabuurs said some of the materials are dropped off for disposal after a farm changes owners.  

"When they go to check the buildings, they'll find products that either they don't know what they are, or they have no use for them, so we get a lot of that coming in here as well," Nabuurs said.

Nabuurs said growers tell him they are grateful to have a free way to dispose of their farm chemicals.

"Either they would stay in those buildings or be stored forever, or, God forbid, they might be moved to a back field or someplace like that, improperly disposed of," Nabuurs said. 

"So we'd rather they bring it to us and we'll dispose of it for them."

Beekeeper Stan Sandler was at the disposal site in New Perth to drop off five drums of materials, including mite strips that he uses in his hives.

"It's great, really good program, there's no way to get rid of them otherwise," Sandler said. "Because they have some insecticide in them." 

Zero waste goal

Cleanfarms operates several other programs on P.E.I., including a pesticide and fertilizer container recycling program, and another that recycles seed and pesticide bags.

The group has also been working with the Island Waste Management Corporation on a program that collects silage wrap and sends it for recycling.

Friesen said there are also plans for several new initiatives, including on P.E.I.

"We're going to be offering some new programs, we're hoping for twine and netting as well, on top of the bale wrap collection programs," Friesen said.

"We're hoping in the future that we'll have a permanent program, that industry will pay for, to manage those as well. Our goal eventually is zero plastic waste in agriculture." 

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