Throughout the 2020/2021 winter Cleanfarms commissioned grower research to better understand farmers' attitudes and behaviours around ag plastics recycling. The research shows that when recycling programs are made available, farmers will overwhelmingly use them over other means.

The quantitative research primarily targeted growers in regions where pilots are operating (British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario and the Maritime provinces). The information collected provides important baseline data that helped inform pilot development and will help assess pilot performance. Summaries, organized by region, are available here.

Some key findings across the regions are:

• As noted above, when recycling programs are made available, farmers will overwhelmingly use them over other means
• Overall, farmers are more satisfied when they can recycle an ag plastic versus other disposal methods like landfilling
• Disposal habits generally reflect the availability and maturity of recycling programs in a region
• There is a strong appetite amongst farmers to participate in pilots for recycling ag plastics

There is concern about potential costs associated with more permanent, long term recycling programs.

For more information: CleanFarms.ca.