Australia first initiative to recycle and remake agrichem packaging

August 6, 2024 -- Pact Group, a leading plastic recycler and packaging manufacturer, has developed Australia’s first recycled plastic agricultural chemical containers.

Using the latest packaging manufacturing technology, Pact’s new AgriG8 containers can be made in 10L, 15L and 20L variants with up to 30 per cent recycled plastic.

Pact has undertaken extensive testing to ensure the containers are compliant with design requirements for chemicals used in the agricultural sector, such as fertilisers and insecticides.

The AgriG8 containers are central to the new circular Drums-to-Drums initiative, the result of a partnership between Pact, CropLife, the national peak industry organisation for the plant science sector, and its not-for-profit stewardship subsidiary, Agsafe.

Drums-to-Drums aims to close the loop on agricultural chemical containers by collecting, recycling and remaking them into new agricultural chemical packaging. The initiative is an evolution of the agricultural product stewardship program, drumMUSTER®, a national program for the collection and recycling of plastic agricultural and veterinary chemical drums.

Started by CropLife 25 years ago, drumMUSTER® has collected more than 40 million drums from its 830 collection points across regional Australia.

Pact currently recycles about 450,000 of the drumMUSTER® containers per year but technical challenges have meant that drumMUSTER® containers could only be recycled into plastic pellets to make other products, such as irrigation pipes and bollards.

Under the Drums-to-Drums program, Pact is aiming to collect and recycle 900,000 agricultural chemical containers from drumMUSTER® annually to make its new AgriG8 recycled containers. To put it in perspective, 900,000 containers is approximately 1,080 tonnes of plastic, or the equivalent of more than 350 Toyota Hilux vehicles.[1]

Pact General Manager, Industrial Manufacturing, Ben Andrews said: “Pact is committed to creating a strong local circular economy that diverts plastic waste materials from landfill, recycles it and then remakes it into new products.”

“The Drums-to-Drums initiative demonstrates that industry-led initiatives are often best placed to develop effective solutions for industry-specific needs,” Mr Andrews said.

The new AgriG8 recycled plastic containers will be made at Pact’s packaging facilities in Melbourne and Brisbane.

[1] Based on average weight of 1.2kg for a 20L plastic AgriG8cube (unfilled) and average weight of 3050kg for a Toyota Hilux (Toyota HiLux SR (4×4) Price & Specifications | CarExpert)

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