“IRELAND is one of the few countries in Europe to have introduced legislation specifically designed to promote farm plastics recycling,” Mr Ossian Smyth, T.D., Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications with responsibility for Communications and Circular Economy told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine in May this year.

“This legislation is critical, as it places a legal responsibility on producers of farm film products to specifically support recycling. The options open to producers placing farm film products on the Irish market are to either become directly involved in the recycling of farm plastics waste with their customers by operating a deposit and return scheme, or to participate in the Government approved farm plastics recycling scheme.”

Lessen the amount

This year, Ireland is on track to recycle a record amount of farm plastic, while maintaining an almost 100% recycle rate. This is a rate to be applauded going forward, but what if we could lessen the amount of farm plastic in Ireland altogether?

Net wrap is used in the production of most large bales on farms across Ireland and Britain. According to Innovative Farmers, a British not-for-profit network for farmers and growers, who are running on-farm trials to test innovative new practices, the single-use bale netting sheds microplastics that pollute water and soil.

Innovative Farmers are tackling what they believe to be a major environmental issue, citing the example that the UK produces an estimated 135,000 tonnes of agricultural plastic waste annually. It is also a major health issue, with researchers increasingly finding microplastics in our food and our bodies.

Chemical inputs

To help tackle this, farmers from 12 sites across Scotland, Wales and England are wrapping bales using twine from sisal, a cactus-like plant that was widely used before plastic became popular.

Plastic net wrap is tough to cut off without small pieces falling into the hay, which then spreads into the environment. Sisal requires few chemical inputs to grow, is easy to use in existing farm equipment and contains no toxic microplastics, so can be safely composted.

A one-year trial will compare 5,000 bales, half using sisal twine and half in plastic net wrap, stored in barn conditions ranging from dry to exposed. The bales will be lab-assessed in March and November 2025 for protein and sugar content, and to compare the dryness of the material under different conditions.

It is hoped sisal will keep the bales secure and dry, giving farmers a nature-friendly alternative that saves on vet bills and plastic tax.

Currently, the sisal for the trial is being sourced only from Brazil and Africa, which raises transport cost both environmental and in monetary terms, but the farmers undertaking the trial believe supporting developing economies could be a sustainable solution.