Irish farmers have embraced agri-plastics recycling : panorama of Plasticulture in Ireland

AUTHOR : Liam MOLONEY, CEO, Irish Farm Film Producers’ Group (IFFPG)
Amongst other things, Ireland is known for its dairy and beef production. There, agri-plastics recycling is simply a normal activity that the vast majority of farmers undertake every year, with the country currently achieving a 90% recycling rate for stretch wrap and silage sheeting. It’s a success story and a concrete example of the development of shared responsibility at country level. The scheme is coordinated by the Irish Farm Film Producers’ Group (IFFPG). Liam Moloney, its CEO, explains how the scheme works and what is has achieved in the last 25 years.
IFFPG, which is the national Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme, was established in 1998 in response to a demand for an agri-plastics recycling solution from the country’s significant agri-food sector.
The importance of the Agri-Food Sector in Ireland
Although Ireland has been hugely successful in recent decades at attracting multinational investment (second largest exporter of information technology services and fifth largest exporter of pharmaceutical products in the world), the agri-food sector continues to be significant to the Irish economy.
In 2022, the agri-food sector accounted for 10% of all exports, which generated over €15 billion in income and employed 7% of the work force. As agriculture in Ireland is overwhelmingly livestock based (84% of the land is devoted to pasture), exports are dominated by dairy and beef products. Ireland is currently both the largest exporter of butter and beef products in the EU.
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