New rules for sorting agricultural plastics

To be able to better recycle the collected agricultural plastic and get a higher recycling quality and to achive the lowest possible levy charges, we now need new sorting rules. The new sorting rules will apply from 1 March 2020.

You, who during the current season have allready sorted your plastic according to the old rules and do not have the opportunity to quickly switch to the new rules can of course leave the plastic also this year.

Read more under “Handle the plastic correctly”

Information about seed potato sacks

Seed potato sacks are not accepted at SvepRetur’s collection sites because the suppliers are not affiliated with SvepReturs recovery system.

Information about Combifoil.

The Combifoil consists of two combined layers. It is usually a thicker layer white in color, made from Polyethylene and a transparent thinner layer made from Polyamide. These two plastic qualities do not “fit” together in the ongoing recycling process.

During the ensiling process the Combifoil divides and becomes two separate foils of different qualities. This means that they must be handled individually in conjunction with recycling. At the recycling station, the white-colored thicker plastic is added to white silo film and the thinner transparent are placed in a designated place.

You as a farmer have to deal with the two different foil qualities separately when they are handed over to SvepRetur collection points. If Polyamid are mixed in the recyckling process, all the plastic that is a mixture of the two different qualities becomes unusable for material recycling and thus unsold, which can affect the recycling levy you as a farmer pay when you buy the plastic.

To illustrate it in a different way it is like mixing oil with water, which also becomes useless as oil or water.

Step-by-step recycling of plastic in the agricultural sector

1.  Sort the plastic

Agricultural plastic comes in different forms and each type must be sorted individually for it to be recycled. If you do this as soon as the sack or drum is emptied or when the bale is first opened you will save both time and work prior to handing in the plastic.

2. Handle the plastic correctly – Read more

If you handle the plastic in such a way that it is kept as dry and clean as possible then costs can be kept down. It should not contain any foreign objects, such as iron, soil, gravel or old silage, i.e. the plastic should be ‘shake clean’. Good aids, such as a sack-holder and a simple press, are available for volumes large and small. Plastic which is handled correctly stays clean and dry and can be recycled to a greater degree.

3. Clean drums as follows

Fill the packaging with approximately 1/5 water, put on the lid. Shake the packaging so that the rinsing water reaches the whole of the inside. The rinsing water from drums that have contained a water-soluble product should be taken care of in an environmentally correct way. Drums for pesticides are cleaned immediately after emptying and the rinsing fluid should be poured directly into the sprayer. Repeat the rinsing procedure at least three times with water. Allow the water to run off the packaging (upside down) until it is drip dry. If the supplier gives specific instructions, these must be followed.

Packagings should be cleaned so that:

– the empty packagings are not classified as hazardous waste and can be handed in for energy recovery.
– the risk of harming both people and the environment is reduced.
– the contents can be used in their entirety.

Information about handling pesticide packagings can be found on the Svenskt Växtskydd website www.svensktvaxtskydd.se

4. Hand in plastic for recycling

It is important that each type of plastic is placed separately – it is enough for one person to be careless with the sorting for the recycling not to take place optimally. Collection takes place at prenotified locations. A list of the locations can be found here.

Information is also available at www.krsab.nu, telephone 0380-660729. You can also contact the supplier for help. There is no charge as collection is financed through the purchase price.

5. Unsorted or incorrectly sorted plastic and uncleaned drums or drums that are not drip dry cannot be accepted.

6. Read our ongoing information

In order to keep down costs current information will in future only be published at www.svepretur.se. You can also contact us by e-mail or by telephone. It is up to the person who wants to hand in agricultural plastic to obtain information personally about what applies on each occasion.

Handle the plastic correctly

Explanations to paragraph two.

Sort the plastic for more efficient recycling and low recycling fees.

If plastics with different colors are integrated in any application and they cannot be separated, they should be sorted into the colored fraction. If the different colors can be separated, white and transparent must be sorted into a white fraction. Other colors are mixed in to a colored fraction.

The plastic is sorted into seven categories:

Silage Stretchfilm / Mantle foil
Silage stretchfilm that is white or transparent shall be sorted into a white fraction. Other colors may be mixed in a colored fraction.
The silage stretch film shall not be packed in a big-bag.

Mantle foil
Mantle foil that is white or transparent should be sorted into a white fraction. Other colors are mixed in to the colored fraction.
Mantle foil is sorted as silage stretch film.

Nets and yarns
Nets and Synthetic yarn, (Not sisal yarn)
Nets and synthetic yarns shall not be mixed, they are different types of plastic that cannot be recycled together.
Nets should be packed in big-bags that you seal when full.
Synthetic yarn should be packed in big-bags that you seal when full.
If you do not have big-bags ask and get them at the collection point.

Foil

Silage bags
Silage silo/clamp foils
Silage Tubes
Cultivation foils
Plastic packaging material
Sleeve-pack


For the above mentioned foil types, white and transparent shall be sorted into to a white fraction, the other colors shall be mixed in the colored fraction.
Cultivation foil should be rolled up without core / bobbin or folded together into a well cohesive package.

Loose culture foil with “long tails” are not accepted.
In order to be able to leave the cultivation foil, documents proving that the recycling fee has been paid must be presented.

Roll packaging / Sleeves, which is white or transparent and without printing, is sorted into a white fraction. Other colors or if they are printed are mixed in a colored fraction.

Nonwoven
Nonwoven material shall be rolled together without core / bobbin or folded together into a well cohesive “package”.
Loose non-wovens are not accepted.
In order to be able to leave non-woven material, documents proving that the recycling fee has been paid must be presented.

Big-bags / Sacks
Only Big-bags for plant nutrition, seeds and big salt bags from Lantmännen are included in SvepRetur’s collection system. No other big-bags are accepted.
Packed with or without inner bag they shall be put together inside a big-bag or tied together in bundles. Do not put any other kind of plastics in the bags.
In order to be able to leave a big-bag, documents proving that the recycling fee has been paid must be presented.

Sacks:
Small sacks and pallet hoods from plant nutrients and seed, 15-25 kg, and the sacks and pallet hoods from 25 kg salt bags from Lantmännen are included in SvepRetur’s collection system,
No other bags or pallet hoods are accepted.
Small bags and pallet hoods are sorted as foil.

Bobins / Cores (plastic)
Cores from silage stretchfilm, foil and nets.
Cores are packed in the outer bag of a big-bag, which must be sealed when full.

Plastic containers
Containers for plant protection and ensiling agents go to energy recovery, by incineration.
Containers containing water-soluble product must be well-cleaned, drip-dry and with the lid removed.
The lids are left separate.
Other packages such as cans or bottles from detergent, oil etc. are not included in the system and are therefore not accepted.
In order to facilitate handling, and thus keep costs down, 8-10 cans should be tied together with a coarse string.