Farmers encouraged to recycle waste plastics in NFYFC scheme
Daniel Cox, operations director at CSH Environmental, and Oliver Weavers, former county chair and Essex YFC member © NFYFC As part of National Young Farmers’ Week, the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs (NFYFC) has launched a recycling scheme which aims to encourage more farmers to correctly dispose of farm waste such as plastics and cardboard.
Since 2006, waste management regulations have banned the burning or burying of farm waste, making it a legal requirement for farmers to send waste to recycling or landfill centres.
See also: A guide to farm recycling: The options and costs
The NFYFC said the YFC Recycle Challenge followed the success of a project launched by the Essex Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs, which over the past year has disposed of 94t of waste from farms across the county.
As part of the scheme, young farmers offer to remove waste from local farms, which they will then deliver to local recycling centres in return for a donation.
In Essex, this has resulted in more than £12,000 in donations to YFCs.
Oliver Weavers, who started the scheme during his year as county chair for Essex, said: “The recycling scheme has been such a big success in our county, we wanted more Young Farmers’ Clubs to benefit from a similar arrangement.
“This has given our members new skills, made them more aware of the importance of recycling and, most importantly, engaged farmers in recycling their waste more often.
“Most farmers have a connection to YFC and are willing to give back to the organisation, and this is a really simple way to do it.
“I am proud to have been involved in setting up this scheme with CSH Environmental, and I look forward to seeing it roll out more widely across England and Wales.”
A toolkit is available from the NFYFC to help other YFCs set up a similar scheme in their county.