This year’s recycling collections of agricultural plastics are as follows (all from noon to 5 pm):

San Juan Island – Saturday, Sept. 19, Fairgrounds 4-H Bldg.

Lopez Island – Monday, Sept. 21, Solid Waste Facility

Orcas Island – Tuesday, Sept. 22, Solid Waste Facility.

Plastic nursery pots and flats, soil amendment bags, drip irrigation tape, mulch film, tunnel film, silage bags and hay bale stretch wrap will be accepted at no cost. Keep materials dry and shake off any loose soil. Nursery pots and flats will be made available at each event for re-use.

Our regional recyclers at Skagit River Steel & Recycling in Burlington report that their current markets for such plastics are in the U.S. and Vietnam. Recycled ag plastics become feedstock in the manufacture of automotive parts, tool handles, drain pipe and trash bags as well as plastic lumber for benches, flooring, pallets, decking, posts and pilings.

It is estimated that plastics can take up to 400 years to break down in landfills; farmers and gardeners from the San Juan Islands have diverted about 45 tons of ag plastics from landfill from our last two years’ recycling collections. Burning plastics is not a disposal option. It is illegal and creates highly toxic fumes that are especially harmful to people with asthma, allergies, or other respiratory/cardiac problems.

For more specifics on how to prepare your ag plastics for recycling and on the health risks of improper disposal of plastics, please call 370-0503.