A Thunder Bay dairy farmer is doing what she can to divert plastic from the dump.
Peggy Brekveld tells us she, and 25 other regional farmers, are taking part in a Northern Ontario Farm Innovation Alliance pilot project, in which each fills a $900 compactor with unwanted plastic.
“We put it into the compactor, and using a tractor we actually press the plastic down, so that the amount of space is greatly reduced. It makes about a 3-foot by 2-foot bale,” says the Vice President of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.
The bails are stored at the farmer’s property, until they’re taken and burned at around 350 to 550 Celsius to produce usable energy, such as fuel and electricity.
This has the attention of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. “I know that A.M.O. has had workshops on this process, with a company called BBL Pyrolysis. Some of the communities in northern Ontario have looked at this process, and are looking at ways to improve conditions at their landfills.”
Brekveld adds any interested farmer can get involved in the pilot which is for about three years. The idea behind the pilot has been around for about five years.
“A farmer in southern Ontario is very passionate about it. But, really the effort to make it a province wide initiative has been pushed by northern farmers,” says the dairy farmer.
