After a bumper harvest in 2021, farmers in Western Australia’s central wheatbelt
will be looking to remove agricultural chemical drum plastic waste from their land.
It’s a good thing Agsafe’s drumMUSTER container recycling program
has been busy expanding its service to the region by increasing collection opportunities
for farmers to drop off their drums for recycling.
Mogumber community site (above) at the Mogumber tip now hold drumMUSTER collections on specific days
The Progress Association has been extremely active with Clare Forrester and her group supported by Victoria Plains Shire President Pauline Bantock.
Graeme Passmore is WA’s Regional consultant for drumMUSTER and has been making sure operations in the area are ready for an influx of agvet containers coming to the collection sites for recycling. By increasing available collection times at various collection sites in the region, farmers now have more opportunities to deliver their used drums than ever before.
“Having an ongoing service available enables farmers to set up on-farm processes to include drum cleaning storage and final dispatch to the drumMUSTER site on a regular basis. No more unsightly stockpiles of used drums and the temptation to burn or bury them is now significantly reduced.”
– Graeme Passmore
Not only does the program provide an avenue for removing farm waste from the land, it also saves it from being placed in to landfill, or buried or burnt as Graeme alludes to. All drums that enter the drumMUSTER program are recycled into useful products such as farm fence posts, irrigation pipes and even wheelie bins. To date, almost 40 million drums have been collected and recycled through the program. That’s over 42,000 tonnes of plastic waste that has been recycled rather than placed into the ground.
Below are some of the sites in the Northam, Victoria Plains and Moora Shires that have improved access for farmers and other agvet chemical users.
Northam’s conversion to an ongoing service is the final change to occur in the dramatically improved drumMUSTER service from Moora to Northam. For further information or to make a booking please contact the council on (08) 9622 6100.
Recently, the drumMUSTER container recycling program has converted the drum collection site at the Calingiri landfill to an ongoing service. This site is now open every Wednesday between 9am and 11am, as well as on Saturdays between 12.30pm and 4pm, and Sundays from 9am until 3pm.
The Moora Tip collection site is also now running ongoing collections. Deliveries can be made each Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday between 1pm and 5pm, and on Saturday and Sunday between 8am and 5pm.
The York site is another collection point that is now an ongoing service for farmers in the area. The transfer station is open Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday between 12pm-3pm and Sunday from 11am-5pm.
Agvet chemical users in Bolgart can now recycle their cleaned, eligible containers at the drumMUSTER site at the Bolgart landfill (on Bolgart East Road) on Wednesday (12.30pm-4pm) and on Saturdays from 9am until 3pm.
Piawaning community site now hold drumMUSTER collection on specific days. The site is located at the Corner of Waddington–Wongon Hills Road and Denton Street. For details about these collections people should contact David Hall on 0428 188 922 for further information.
These expanded operating times for the above drumMUSTER sites could not have been possible without the ongoing support and commitment from the Councils of the Northam Shire, Moora Shire and the Victorian Plains Shire. Their dedication to the drumMUSTER program for the local farming community is to be commended.
Recycling your used agvet chemical containers is an important part of managing your land and ensuring regional communities remain free of plastic farm waste. By using the drumMUSTER program, you are demonstrating your commitment to the land as well as your local community.
So rinse them out, round them up and run them. And remember, every container counts. For further information about drumMUSTER in WA, contact Graeme Passmore on 0429 933 307