MEDIA RELEASE
19 May 2020
With the easing of Covid-19 pandemic restrictions in the coming weeks and months, be assured that drumMUSTER operations will continue to operate within each state and territory across Australia. As states and regions re-open, drumMUSTER operations will continue with strict adherence to social distancing and hygiene practices, ensuring best practice for all involved in the drumMUSTER process. This includes those inspecting the drums as well as the public.
While 80% of council collection sites remained open, the remaining Councils are now preparing for their drumMUSTER inspectors to return to operating collections across Australia, and farmers can be assured that there is a safe and sustainable pathway for recycling of containers and disposal of obsolete agvet chemicals.
For rural communities across Australia, the easing of drought conditions culminating with Covid-19 has put some additional pressures on the agricultural supply chain. This has meant that there has been an extraordinarily large volume of chemicals entering distribution.
drumMUSTER collection sites and processors are well placed to be able to handle the influx of containers in the coming months.
Agsafe understands that community groups receive much needed funding from the collection of containers. We applaud all community groups involved in the drumMUSTER program of how they have handled and responded to the Covid-19 situation. As states and territories ease restrictions, community collections will commence again, based upon the advice of each jurisdiction.
Please check with your local council for further information on current operations or visit www.drumMUSTER.org.au for the latest updates.
You can find your nearest drumMUSTER collection point (including current operational status) at http://www.drummuster.org.au/find-a-collection-site/
The drumMUSTER program has been operating since 1999 and has recycled over 40,000 tonnes of agricultural plastic waste which otherwise would have been put into landfill, buried or burned on farms. This equates to over 35 million agvet containers.
Thank you for your continued support of the drumMUSTER program.
Agsafe’s General Manager Dominique Doyle said, “We are so proud of how the drumMUSTER collections have continued during this extraordinary time, whilst maintaining strict social distancing and hygiene controls.
“The importance of this industry led stewardship program of ensuring access to recycling service for eligible products is not lost on drumMUSTER stakeholders. While safety is always at the forefront of operations, as the requirement of triple rinsing is still key to the success of the drumMUSTER program, the additional social distancing and hygiene controls assures farmers that there is a safe and sustainable disposal point for their empty agvet chemical containers.