Recovered packaging as example of circular economy in Poland
Every year the amount of collected packaging of plant protection products increases. In 2019, as part of the Polish Plant Protection Products System, over 75% of the total mass of packaging placed on the market was collected, which means almost 2.225.000kg of packaging!
Waste management is one of the key areas of business activity. Selective collection, recycling and, as a result, a circular economy is a direction that every responsible business strives for. The possibility and method of processing recyclable materials has a real impact on reducing environmental damage. One industry has successfully implemented a collection system for manufactured packaging.
Plant Protection Products Packaging Collection System created by producers of plant protection products has been operating in Poland for over 16 years. This free and simple tool allows farmers to return packaging after used products in a responsible and environmentally safe way. As part of the PSOR System in 2019, over 75% of the mass of packaging placed on the market was collected and 54% of this mass was recycled. Every year, the weight of collected packaging of plant protection products increases. Since the beginning of the program 21,806 tons of packaging have been collected from the market. That's as much as 97 football fields.
The beginnings of the System date back to 2004, when leading producers and importers of plant protection products came up with the initiative of establishing a common system dealing in the collection and management of packaging waste generated by products introduced by them.
Farmers or other users should return empty and triple-rinsed packaging of plant protection products to a store that sells plant protection products. There is no need to show a receipt or other proof of purchase. In practice, every store can join the collection within the System simply by subscribing online. The operator acting on behalf of producers and importers receives empty and rinsed packaging from sales outlets and the collected packaging is recycled and recovered. The recovered packages will not be used to produce elements that could, for example, come into contact with food. The material recycled from plant protection products is added to the production of optical fiber pipes.
The costs of the System is covered completely by the companies introducing plant protection products and other hazardous substances used in agriculture.
Source: AgroNews.eu