The Ontario Federation of Agriculture is rolling out a new green technology to recycle plastic waste from farms in collaboration with the Northern Ontario Farm Innovation Alliance.
Yves Gauthier, the alliance board chair, says expansion of their plastics project, including more compactors and municipal partnerships, emphasizes dedication to creating a sustainable agricultural sector in Northern Ontario.
He says the alliance signed a deal a couple of weeks ago with Waste Energy Solutions and Technologies Inc. (WEST), a green-tech company based in Sudbury and on Manitoulin Island, to turn waste agricultural plastic into renewable energy.
Gauthier says the company uses thermal dissociation anoxic technology to break down waste plastic and transform it into gas, which can then be used to produce energy, heating or cooling.
He says under the agreement, Northern Ontario farmers will collect plastic waste in a wooden compactor, and the bales are then shipped to WEST’s facility in Gore Bay for recycling.
He adds that the process is simple, with wooden compactors placed on farms and communal sites where farmers can bring unwanted plastics for collection.
Gauthier says they now have 41 partners throughout Northern Ontario with 59 bales of plastic having been recycled so far, that roughly 25 metric tonnes of plastic.
