Green Tractor collectors investigate solutions to recycle silage cores

A recent review of operations by collecting members of The Green Tractor Scheme has identified an anomaly within the polymer used to manufacture plastic cores for silage bale wrap. Further analysis has identified a range of materials used to manufacture the cores, including Polyethylene (PE), Polyethylene composite (PE + other), and Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC). The main issue for our members is the identification of the used cores, and how they are recycled. Due to the variation of the plastic used to produce the silage cores, it makes it difficult to correctly recycle as a result of the variety of cores placed on the market.

As a result, Green Tractor would welcome an opportunity to work with the film manufacturers to develop a system to easily identify the polymer type of used cores in the field, or ideally, support an initiative by all manufacturers to move to the same easily recycled core. This would further improve the sustainability of silage film recycling, and increase the tonnage of material collected that film manufacturers place on the market.

Through all of the agricultural ecosystem working together, we can work towards making farming a more sustainable industry.