ON Friday, Southern Grampians Shire Council (SGSC) residents were invited to drop off unrequired hay bale twine at the Hamilton Transfer Station as part of an ongoing collection program this year.

 The initiative is part of the SGSC commitment to developing a circular economy and farmers can drop off the hay bale twine at no cost.

 Council has been working with award-winning Hamilton business Sustainable Plastics Solutions (SPS) on recycling hay bale twine.

 SPS recycles twine, plus other farm plastics, into pellets and compounds that can be used by manufacturers for a wide range of commercial products including garden furniture.

 Council’s Sustainable community lead, Juan Donis said last year council teamed with SPS to trial a hay bale twine collection day, which resulted in local farmers dropping off a total of 1.8 tonnes of hay bale twine.

 “Council shares SPS’ focus on collecting and recycling plastics from the agriculture industry that are destined for landfill,” he said.

 “It’s a great feeling to know that we’re all playing a part in having these plastics re-made into new items.”

 Customers are asked to ensure that when dropping off unwanted hay bale twine, there are no other items in with the twine such as metal, paper, or rubbish.

 “SPS staff will be on-site during the drop-off times to monitor the twine for contamination and to take the opportunity to meet local farmers and chat about SPS’s innovative recycling program.”

 There will be another hay bale twine collection at the same location on Friday, March 29 and on the last Friday of the month for the rest of the year.