National recycling program drumMUSTER has kicked yet another goal for the environment after recently collecting its 18 millionth chemical container.
This is a particularly special milestone for the service, which was first established in 1998 and collects empty ag vet containers and transforms them into practical items like agriculture pipes, wheelie bins and road signs. Incredibly, this initiative has now diverted over 23,000 tonnes of material from landfill.
When Goondiwindi farmer David Beare had more than 1200 of his and a neighbour’s containers collected, little did he know just how significant the stockpile would prove to be.
“We built up a stockpile of around 1200 containers and we had someone come up and pick them up for us,” he said.
“I’ve been using the program to get my drums crushed for the last decade or so and it’s really helped me over the years. 18 million is a lot of drums, but I suppose it (bringing in the milestone container) could have been anyone!”
Thanks to the environmental commitment of drumMUSTER’s wide array of users, the program is on track to safely dispose of over two million containers in the past year alone and the momentum shows no sign of stopping.
AgStewardship Australia Chief Executive Officer Karen Gomez has been following the progress of the industry stewardship program closely and she is extremely proud of the milestone.
“drumMUSTER is at the forefront of product stewardship around the world,” Ms Gomez said.
“The progress it has made has been possible through the continued commitment of Australian farmers, agricultural chemical manufacturers and local government and they have certainly built a great Australian agricultural success story.”
For any further information on the drumMUSTER program or to find your nearest collection site, call 1800 008 707 or log on to www.drummuster.com.au.
AgStewardship Australia develops and implements the drumMUSTER and ChemClear stewardship programs on behalf of Australia’s agricultural industry to reduce and manage waste. These programs are delivered by Agsafe on AgStewardship Australia’s behalf.