FARMERS in the Tamar catchment are being encouraged by a rivers conservation charity to recycle their farm plastics this year as part of a plastics prevention scheme.

Westcountry Rivers Trust (WRT), through its involvement in the Preventing Plastic Pollution (PPP) project is supporting farming and wildlife advice group FWAG South West to deliver a farm plastic recycling day at Holsworthy Farmers Market on Monday, May 24.

Andy Rogers, project manager at WRT for PPP in the Tamar area, said: “We are so pleased FWAG South West have added this date to their already successful annual farm plastics recycling scheme, and to Kivells for providing permissions at the market.

“Poorly stored plastic such as wraps, netting and sheeting can escape into the countryside, with much ending up in our rivers and streams.

“This event will provide an opportunity for farmers to remove and recycle plastic from their farms and obtain the correct paperwork.

“It’s a win for them and for our river environments too.”

WRT is working with Plymouth City Council, the University of Plymouth and the Environment Agency to determine ways to minimise or omit single use plastics from entering the River Tamar from source to sea and provide guidance to individuals, communities and businesses to reduce or stop plastics entering the water.

This is part of the three-year, €14-million EU INTERREG VA France (Channel) England Programme funded project, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund that works across seven pilot areas.

The information gathered from research in these pilot areas will allow the cross-Channel partnerships to tackle plastic waste that enters the sea via rivers every year.

Supporting the event at Holsworthy Farmers Market, Torridge District councillor and lead member for climate change, Peter Hames, said: “Any initiative that seeks to promote recycling and re-use of resources, and particularly plastic, is to be welcomed.

“This particular scheme has been ably organised by the FWAG and has now been running since 2004, which shows how ahead of their time the organisation was in starting this programme. All the plastic collected is re-processed and then turned  into products, many of which are for use on the farm such as animal shelters and walkways. So this is an important initiative that contributes to the circular economy and it is great that farmers have been keen to play their part. We would encourage anyone yet to book their slot at Holsworthy to put this on their to-do list ahead of the market on May 24.”  

Visit wrt.org.uk/project/preventing-plastic-pollution-ppp, email [email protected] or call 01579 372140 to find out more.

Farmers can book an hourly slot at the May event via fwagsw.org.uk/Event/farm-plastics-recycling-scheme or by calling 01823 660684.