By SHELLY STRAUTZ-SPRINGBORN
Michigan Correspondent

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Properly rinsing and recycling empty pesticide containers protects the environment, saves landfill space and puts the plastic to use in new products.

With growing season in full swing, farmers are encouraged to take advantage of statewide recycling programs.

“It’s important to recycle empty pesticide containers,” said Christina Curell, Michigan State University extension groundwater educator serving Mecosta and Montcalm counties. “Even when we triple-rinse and clean them, there could still be some residual pesticides. By recycling them, they’re re-cleaned and re-used.

“Most importantly, our landfills don’t get filled up and we don’t contaminate our groundwater or our land.”
With recent emphasis on recycling, Curell said during the last three years more than 112,000 pounds of empty pesticide containers have been recycled.

“They are such a heavy plastic that they can be re-used for other non-food product containers,” Curell said. “Most of them are chipped and ground, and are used for park benches or fencing.”

The pesticide container recycling program is coordinated by the Michigan Groundwater Stewardship Program (MGSP) and the Michigan Agribusiness Association. Through this program, clean, empty pesticide containers are collected, chipped and recycled into a variety of products, including new pesticide containers, truck and manure spreader deck boards, field drain tile, pallets and parking stops.

“The best way to handle the containers is to rinse them right after they are emptied so that no residue dries to the inside of the container,” said Allen Krizek, MSU extension liaison to the MGSP. “The containers must be either triple-rinsed or power-rinsed, and any rinse water should be added to the spray tank to get the most out of the product and to keep the pesticide out of nearby waters.”

Clean, empty containers should be stored in large plastic bags until fall. These bags are available from any MGSP technician.

Technicians are based in local conservation district and extension offices – to find the one near you, visit www.michigan.gov/documents/ground water

Rigid, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) crop protection containers that hold U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-registered products labeled for agricultural, professional turf, forestry and aquatic uses are eligible for recycling.

Look for the HDPE 2 symbol on the bottom of the container.

Adjuvants, crop oils and surfactant containers can also be recycled. All containers must be 2.5 gallons or smaller.

Pesticide container collections are scheduled for a number of locations across Michigan during the first two weeks of September.

To find a collection site near you, contact your local conservation district or county MSU extension office.

Curell said farmers seeking a collection site also may contact their chemical supplier. “A lot of them will collect the containers and get them to a grind site,” she said.

She cautions farmers not to reuse the containers on their farms.

“Some people reuse pesticide containers. They’ll clean them and put other things in them. That’s dangerous because there is residual pesticide in there,” she said.

“When you put something in there that isn’t supposed to be in there, you could use it improperly or someone could ingest it.
“If you dump it out on the ground and don’t know what it is, we could have a problem there, too,” she said.

If disposing of an unwanted chemical is necessary, Curell added, “At any time in the state of Michigan, a farmer can take them to a Clean Sweep site and dispose of them for free.”

Animal health care, consumer home and garden and swimming pool maintenance product containers are not eligible for recycling under the program.

To learn more about MGSP, visit www.michigan.gov and search for “Michigan Groundwater Stewardship Program.”