The Rural Voice, 2006-08, Page 20Bale wrap, (4.8 million pounds of it in 2000), has become part of farm practices on cattle farms. But disposal has been
a problem. Now Think Plastics is collecting the bale wrap (above right) for recycling into plastic lumber.
WASTE? NOT!
Bale wrap, though handg on the farm, has become a plague in cattle country,
but a new process is turning recycled wrap into plastic lumber,
some of which mag find its way back to the farm
Story and photos by Keith Roulston
They have become part of the
landscape in recent years —
giant white caterpillars
creeping across fields and yards of
cattle farms. The use of plastic to
wrap bales which maximize the
nutritional value of the hay stored
therein while eliminating the need for
expensive indoor storage, has been
exploding.
The problem has been what to do
with all that plastic when the hay is
used. Now there are new
products being made from
recycled bale wrap that may
find uses right back on the
farms they came from.
After years of setting up a
collection system to gather the
used plastic from farmers
across midwestern Ontario,
Think Plastics Inc. has begun
turning recycled bale wrap into
sturdy, nearly indestructible
plastic planks that may find
their way back to horse farms
and hog barns.
"We're trying to keep the
price low enough to go back
into agricultural products,"
says Chuck Sparks, president
of the New Hamburg company.
16 THE RURAL VOICE
Air
Sparks has been in the plastic
business for 35 years. He and his
vice-president, Lisa Lackenbauer,
previously had a business that
reconditioned extruders used in the
business. When they began to see all
that white plastic bale wrap across
the countryside, they started to
wonder about the potential for
recycling the plastic.
"We'd seen plastic products before
(made) using 'blue box' materials,"
says Lackenbauer of the plastics
collected from recycling boxes. The
problem with this was that no matter
how well the recycling company tries
to sort the containers, there's always
a blend of different polymers which
leads to tiny air holes that weaken the
plastic lumber, she says.
Sparks explains that if even one
per cent of foreign polymer is
included in a recycling blend, the
strength of the lumber will be
compromised.
The vast amounts of bale
wrap being used provided
the opportunity to have a
steady supply of identical
recycled plastic.
What could be good for the
company could also be good
for farmers. "It's such a huge
problem getting rid of
millions of pounds of
plastic," Lackenbauer said.
How big is the problem?
There were 4.8 million
pounds of polyethylene film
sold in Ontario in 2000,
three million pounds of it
being made of the
polyethylene blend the
company wants to use.
1
Lisa Lackenbauer (left) and Chuck Sparks stand behind
a fence made of Baleboard.