CLINTON, Ont. — An Ontario farmer’s interest in a biomass crop led to a surprising opportunity: pure plastic recycling.
Don Nott is now accumulating 1.5 million pounds of polyethylene a year, mainly in the form of bale wrap from dairy farms.
According to the Plastics Today website, polyethylene prices recently increased to six cents per pound.
Nott said he has markets for about three million lb. but may be waiting for prices to rise further.
Polyethylene is the most common plastic in the world, used for garbage bags and other products including bale wrap.
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The type of plastic can be identified using the pull test.
“If it stretches, we’ll take it, but we don’t take field mulch. There’s more dirt on that then there is plastic,” Nott said.
He said members of the plastic industry are pleased with his product.
The challenge has been to make sure it’s clean and consistent.
Nott provides free pick-up for farmers who can supply at least 10 large bags packed with the wrap. Farmers have learned about the bale project by word of mouth, and 1,200 are participating in the program.
“We’ve had super support from municipalities. They now hand out our cards to farmers who are going to landfill sites with their plastic.”
Nott has equipment on his farm that shreds, washes and processes the product.
The washing machine, based on a prototype, was made by an Amish family in New York state.
The water used for the process is recycled and filtered, and impurities are allowed to settle out. There’s also a drying process that provides a novel use for a feed mixer.
Nott would eventually like to see the plastic he collects blended with switchgrass to produce building materials, auto parts and other composites.
It’s beginning to happen on a small scale as companies test various biomass resin blends.
The challenge for biomass growers is to process their product to the point that it meets the standards required by composite end users, he added.
