Approximately 12 000 tonnes of agricultural plastic waste are generated annually on Finnish farms. There are two main types of plastic waste: packaging plastics (covered by producer responsibility legislation) and non-packing plastics. Non-packing plastics include silage plastics packaged on farms or cover and fleece plastics used in horticulture. Although farmers can exploit recycling terminals (for packaging plastics) or a nationwide collection system for silage wrap, only a small proportion of plastics are collected.

The biggest challenges in recycling agricultural plastics on farms are related to identifying and separating different types of plastics, assessing the degree of contamination of the plastics and not knowing where to take each type of plastic for processing. These factors hinder the further use of plastic material.

Satafood is a food chain and environmental development organisation operating in southwestern Finland, the country's biggest agricultural area. The project was implemented in close cooperation with Turku University.

Objectives

A survey on the current state of agricultural plastics involved mapping the amount of agricultural plastic waste generated in the project area. The survey also sought farms willing to be pilot farms for the project.

Interviews of the pilot farms collected data on the farms’ current recycling practices and aspirations for improvement, disseminating sorting instructions and information about plastic waste.

Farm visits and examples of sorting and storage solutions collected information about different solutions to facilitate and improve the sorting and storage of plastics on farms. Through interviews and multiple visits and events (virtual and physical), potential solutions were identified.

Guidelines for farms on sorting plastics, identifying different types of plastics, and assessing the level of contamination were developed. These were presented at events and meetings and emailed to stakeholders and farms.

A list of companies accepting agricultural waste was created, with facilities categorised based on the types of plastic they accept.

A plastic recycling pilot involved: 1) collecting agricultural plastics (bale plastics) on seven farms (cooperation between farms continued until the end of the project); and 2) a larger-scale plastic collection campaign for targeted farms located around the Archipelago Sea (removal of several years’ worth of accumulated plastics – in total of 90 tonnes of plastic waste collected)

A recycling pilot for horticultural plastic involved cooperation with Wimao Oy, which provides plastic recycling technology that transforms raw materials into finished products. A pilot trial was initiated, and the project provided a batch of mixed plastic waste from horticultural production of the project area for Wimao.

Collaboration, events and communication invovled the project team actively collaborating with other agricultural plastic waste projects, local stakeholders and farms. The project participated in organising a hackathon with Jamk University of Applied Sciences aimed at developing innovative solutions for agricultural plastic logistics. Numerous articles and news were published in various media outlets to disseminate and effectively communicate the project's findings and gain knowledge.

The project successfully disseminated and communicated information about agricultural plastic waste recycling and recycling opportunities throughout the two regions. Events were well-attended, ensuring effective outreach to target and stakeholder groups. The collection models implemented among pilot farms fostered collaboration, leading to the establishment of a long-term collection partnership in one case. Valuable insights on implementing plastic collection in different environments were gained.

Other quantified results: