Chemical companies make the responsible choice

Twelve companies which manufacture agvet chemical products for the agriculture sector have proved to be dedicated to product stewardship after signing up with AgStewardship Australia to participate in the ChemClear and drumMUSTER programs in the past year.

ChemClear and drumMUSTER are environmental stewardship programs created to assist chemical users appropriately dispose of their chemical waste.

drumMUSTER helps collect empty chemical containers from users and recycles the waste into new products such as plastic stakes, wheelie bins and benches.

ChemClear collects unwanted or out-of-date agvet chemicals by calling on users to register their obsolete products with the program.The program then schedules collection runs based on demand for disposal across Australia.

Products produced by these participating companies can now be recycled or disposed under the agreement.

Companies agree to apply a levy on eligible products at 4c/L/kg at the point of sale. This levy cost is then passed on to the distributor then on to the customer. The levy ensures both programs are free to use.

drumMUSTER National Manager Allan McGann said there are now 105 companies onboard.

“These companies range from those who manufacture herbicides, pesticides, fertilisers to those who produce drenches and even fire-retardant products,” he said.

“They include the big names in agvet chemical manufacturing including all of the CropLife Australia and Animal Health Alliance members. But also some smaller companies who understand their corporate responsibility to the environment.”

Allan said AgStewardship Australia is working every day to sign more companies to the scheme.

“Already a great proportion of the industry are committed to environmental and product stewardship,” he said.

“There are still companies who are involved in manufacturing products for the agricultural market that are eligible for disposal and recycling under our program guidelines.”

drumMUSTER accepts containers between 1-205 L in both plastic and metal.

Users are required to make sure the containers are empty, rinsed clean and dried before returning them to one of the 780 drumMUSTER locations sites around Australia.

ChemClear collects chemicals from manufacturers who participate in the program. Unlabelled chemicals or products from non-participating companies can still be collected by ChemClear but attract a per litre fee for disposal.

Nighty-eight per cent of all the chemicals collected through ChemClear are used as an alternative fuel source. The remaining chemicals are destroyed by Plasma Arc technology.

Companies’ products will usually be marked with a drumMUSTER logo to identify that their containers are eligible for recycling through drumMUSTER and any leftover product disposed of through ChemClear.