Northeast Farming Agri-Plastics project

The Northeast Farming Agri-Plastics project is an innovative research project aiming to explore finding a solutions-based approach to addressing various farming sector waste streams with a view to helping farmers minimise waste but also explore ways to recycle or repurpose their waste rather than sending it to landfill or for incineration in Energy from Waste (EFW).

Modern upland farming runs on plastics - specific waste streams that include bale wrap, bale netting and other plastics consumables. The isolated nature of many upland farms means that the limited collection services currently available are expensive and underutilised, with waste collected being sent for landfill or Energy from Waste (EFW). This project seeks to help support farmers to be be aware of waste compliance as well as exploring the solutions based approaches they can take to manage their waste more effectively.

The research project will identify ways of working with farmers, recyclers and manufacturers with a view to identifying approaches which not only work for and help the farming sector but also demonstrate circularity in manufacturing and supply chain. The project will also explore the practicality of researching a potential supply chain for the use of biopolymers in agriculture, particularly bale wrap and bale netting led by our project partners.