Etobicoke, Ontario – – Each fall, Cleanfarms teams spread out across the country to operate the Unwanted Pesticides and Old Livestock/Equine Medications (UPLM) program. This program provides an important opportunity for farmers to safely and conveniently dispose of unwanted agricultural pesticides and livestock, equine and poultry medications.
Cleanfarms is the national stewardship organization that develops and operates programs to help farmers manage agricultural waste materials. This year’s UPLM program features 72 collection events across five provinces – some of which are one day blitz style collections and others that are multi-day events. They will take place in:
- Saskatchewan (North)
- October 7 to 11
- 20 single-day events
- Alberta (South)
- October 21 – 25
- 20 single-day events
- British Columbia (Okanagan, Interior, Kootenay)
- October 21 to 28
- 11 single-day events
- New Brunswick
- October 28 to November 8
- 10 two-week collection locations
- Nova Scotia
- October 28 to November 8
- 11 two-week collection locations
Farmers value the chance to round up unwanted items on their farms and bring them for safe disposal. The materials accepted at collection events are:
- Unwanted (or “obsolete”) agricultural pesticides including seed treatment (identified with a Pest Control Product number on the label; including used miticide strips).
- Commercial pesticides for golf courses and industrial and commercial pest control products (identified with a Pest Control Product number on the label).
- Livestock/equine medications that are used on-farm in the rearing of livestock, poultry or horses in an agricultural context (identified with a DIN number, serial number, notification number or Pest Control Product number on the label)
The program does NOT accept:
- Treated seed/seed that is treated
- Fertilizer, diluted solution, large quantities of unopened product
- Full and unopened jugs of adjuvant or surfactant
- Needles or sharps, medicated feed, aerosol containers, premises disinfectants and sanitizers, veterinary clinic waste and medications, ear tags, and aerosols
- Domestic pesticides, fertilizers and animal health products
- Any other household hazardous waste.
The UPLM program is a vital service to help farmers keep their farms clean by enabling the safe disposal of leftover chemicals, crop inputs and medications that would otherwise pose a potential risk to the environment if incorrectly stored or managed. As the program operates on a rotation around the country, farmers are used to storing these materials safely on their farms, and bringing them to collections when they are offered in their area.
“Farmers participate in this program because it provides a reliable solution to safely manage some of the materials that may have built up on their farms over the past few years,” says Cleanfarms Executive Director Barry Friesen. “They anticipate our return to their region every three years, and we enjoy connecting with new farmers in each province. This program offers the community peace of mind, knowing these items are handled with the utmost care and safety and the environment is always taken care of.”
Cleanfarms has been operating the collection program for old, unwanted pesticides since 2010, and expanded it four years later in partnership with the Canadian Animal Health Institute (CAHI) to include obsolete farm animal medications.
“Our partnership with Cleanfarms continues to be a cornerstone of our commitment to responsible animal health practices and stewardship. Through this long-standing partnership, we’re helping farmers properly dispose of unwanted products while reinforcing our members’ steadfast commitment to sustainable practices.” stated Dr. Catherine Filejski, President, and CEO of CAHI.
The crop protection industry members of Cleanfarms, in partnership with CAHI, cover the full cost of operating the program and disposing of the materials responsibly so that farmers are able to benefit from the program free of charge. All the materials collected are managed through high temperature incineration.
The previous round of collections in these regions was in 2021 and yielded 201,000 kgs of unwanted pesticides and 5,550 kgs of obsolete animal medications.
Collection events are held at local agricultural retailers’ locations for convenient access. Farmers can find the closest event to them at the Cleanfarms’ website under ‘What to recycle & Where’, then ‘unwanted pesticides & old livestock/equine medications’.
Source : Clean Farmers