Photo supplied by Kevin Fontaine.
Despite the wet weather, on Friday 7th August the Balonne Shire Council in South-West Queensland reached a milestone; collecting the 300,000 agricultural and veterinary (agvet) container through Agsafe’s product stewardship container recycling program, drumMUSTER.
The 300,000th drum was delivered to the Springwell Rd collection site by G & S Price Farming .
Balonne Shire Mayor Samantha O’Toole said it was a testament to the agchem users and farmers in the Shire and their commitment to sustainable farming practices that the milestone had been reached.
“Everyone connected with the drumMUSTER program as well as local farmers, agents and the Balonne Shire Council should be congratulated for their continuing support of this program,” Cr O’Toole said.
“Collecting these containers has enabled everyone concerned to divert such material from being either taken to landfill, burnt or buried.
“Importantly, everyone in the community benefits from the collection of these containers – farmers no longer have a large number on their properties and community groups can claim reimbursement for each container collected.”
Cr O’Toole said there were many people who had made the drumMUSTER program a success in the Balonne Shire. – from community groups who hold the collections; people such as Douglas Crothers and Ron Cooke at Dirranbandi, to the drum inspectors of today such as Lachlan Grundon, Kevin Fontaine, Lindon Langdon and William Taylor.
drumMUSTER containers are tripled rinsed and collected for recycling.
“There are so many people that have been instrumental in the success of the program. Certainly, too many to name them all,” Cr O’Toole said.The farmers and growers in the region have been supporting the drumMUSTER program since March 2000 where, on the first collection an impressive 10,000 drums were delivered by local farmers. It is a testament to the agchem users and farmers in the Shire and their commitment to sustainable farming practices that this milestone has been reached.
The drums are not only delivered to collection sites such as the Springwell Road Compound. Almost 50,000 drums have been collected from farms by the processors that recycle the triple rinsed containers.
There are many people that have made the drumMUSTER program a success in the Balonne Shire. From community groups that hold the collections; people like Douglas Crothers and Ron Cooke at Dirranbandi, to the drum inspectors of today such as Lachlan Grundon, Kevin Fontaine, Lindon Langdon and William Taylor. There are so many people that have been instrumental in the success of the program. Certainly, too many to name them all.
I pay tribute to people like Snow Harm, and the Cotton Growers who started quite a few years prior to the drumMUSTER program commencing.
Colin Hoey, drumMUSTER QLD Regional Consultant
Queensland Regional Consultant for drumMUSTER, Colin Hoey said of the 300,00th drum milestone, “It is a significant achievement for all the members of the Balonne Shire who have played a part. In fact, drum collecting at St. George was happening in the mid-1990s before the drumMUSTER program commenced. I pay tribute to people like Snow Harm, and the Cotton Growers who started quite a few years prior to the drumMUSTER program commencing. They were inspecting and stockpiling drums which was a credit to them.”
“What a great result to reach 300,000! Key to such a great outcome are those individuals who have championed drumMUSTER over the years.”
Agsafe General Manager, Dominique Doyle
Agsafe’s General Manager, Dominique Doyle congratulated the shire and the farmers for their continued support of the recycling program “What a great result to reach 300,000! Key to such a great outcome are those individuals who have championed drumMUSTER over the years. To all the local farmers, the agchem retailers, the Council Executive and the front-line staff at collection sites, as well as the community groups, congratulations and well done for such tremendous results.”
Congratulations to all involved in the drumMUSTER program in the region. Getting to 300,000 recycled drums is a fantastic achievement of which the local community should be very proud.
Remember, every container counts.