Cleanfarms Adds Bench Strength in the Prairies with Focus on Ag Recycling in Manitoba

Cleanfarms, the national stewardship organization that develops and operates recycling programs for agricultural plastics like grain bags has increased its bench strength in the prairies by adding a new program coordinator in Manitoba.

Serena Klippenstein, a local Manitoban who has roots in the province’s rural farming community, will be responsible for helping to operate solutions that work in Manitoba to manage used agricultural products including used grain bags, twine and empty pesticide and fertilizer containers for recycling. These programs are part of the provincial Manitoba Ag Plastic Program, which was approved under the Packaging and Printed Paper Stewardship Regulation.

She will also have a hand in implementing programs that recycle silage bags and bale wrap, which is made possible in Manitoba with funding from the Dairy Farmers of Canada “Here for Tomorrow” project and Cleanfarms’ “Unwanted Pesticides and Livestock/Equine Medications Collection” program that collects old, obsolete and unwanted pesticides and farm animal medications for safe disposal*.

Klippenstein says she has always felt a connection to agriculture and appreciates that this position will allow her to work closely with producers.

“As people in the agricultural community know, a farmer has to be a jack of all trades to be a successful grower and that includes adapting technology that helps them do more with less. Farmers who use ag plastic products like grain bags want access to programs that help them manage those materials when they are no longer useful. That’s what I am here to do…help find solutions that make sense in Manitoba but that draw on the depth of experience that is happening across the prairies,” Klippenstein says.

Among the responsibilities high on her “to do” list is to help expand partnerships with ag-retailers to become conveniently-accessible collection site locations for farmers to return empty plastic pesticide and fertilizer jugs for recycling.