Ag Container Recycling Council
223SouthMainStreet,Lexington,Virginia24450
(540)463-7377(877)952-2272tollfree(877)951-2272tollfreefax
Email:[email protected]:www.acrecycle.org
ACRCCalculationofOverallRecyclingRateofPlasticUsedforPackagingLiquidFormulatedPesticide
Liquidformulatedpesticideisdeliveredin“containers”ranginginsizefromonepintto4500gallonbulk
tankers.SincetheACRCprogramonlyincludescontainersuptoandincluding55gallondrums,the
ACRChastraditionallyonlycalculatedanestimateoftherecyclingrateforthese“small”containers.A
moreaccurateassessmentofindustry’scommitmenttopackagingstewardshipmustincludeall“sizes”
ofpackagingusedtodeliverpesticideproduct;e.g.liquidformulatedpesticide.Tothatend,in2014the
ACRCcommittedtodevelopacredibleestimateoftheplasticpackagingrecyclingrateforallliquid
formulatedpesticidesoldanddeliveredin2013.Theanalysis,completedin2015,includedattainment
ofinformationanddatafromthefollowingsources:
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TheFreedoniaGroup(marketresearchfirm)
ReusableIndustrialPackagingAssociation(RIPA)
ACRCmembercompanybulksales
CompositeIBCmanufacturersandrecyclers
USEPA
Relatedindustryexperts
AonetimesurveyofACRCmembercompanybulksales(for2013)revealeddirectsales(in196,000IBCs)
of32mmgallonsand142mmgallonsinbulktanker;atotalof174mmgallonsdeliveredinbulk.Thisis
approximately64percentofallpesticidedelivered/usedin2013(seesmallcontainervolumebelow).
Industryconsensusisthat40%ofwhatisdeliveredinbulktankerisrepackagedinIBCs;60%iscustom
appliedthususingnopackaging.Includingthegallonsrepackaged(withanaverageoften“turns”per
IBC),atotalof303,000IBCswereused,requiring16mmlbs.ofHDPEplastic.Basedonconsensusof
industryexperts,itwasassumedthat75%(12mmlbs.)oftheIBCsusedarerecycledannually.
DatafromACRC’sannualsurveyofmembercompanieswasusedtoestimatetotalannual(2013)salesof
containers>55gallons.AnestimateoftotalrecyclingwascalculatedfromactualACRCprogramdata
andknowledgeof“non-ACRC”recyclingprograms.Thisrevealedtotaluseofapproximately34mm
poundsofplasticincontainers<55gallontodeliver99mmgallonsofpesticideandrecyclingof
approximately10.5mmlbs.;arecyclingrateof31%.
AdditionoftheIBCrecyclingrateof75%withthe“smallcontainer”recyclingrateof31%yieldsan
overallrecyclingrateofapproximately45percentforallplasticpackagingused.However,since
pesticidedeliveredinbulktankerandcustomappliedusednopackaging,thefactisthat66.7percent
(two-thirds)ofliquidformulatedpesticideisdeliveredwithnoplasticpackagingorpackagingthatis
recycled.Statedinanotherway,onlyone-thirdofallliquidformulatedpackagingusedin2013was
deliveredinpackagingthatwasdisposed.