This Year Program Celebrates 21 Years of Proper Disposal to Protect the Chesapeake Bay The Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) has recycled nearly 800,000 plastic pesticide containers – 64,000 of them this year – through its pesticide container recycling programs for farmers, golf courses, government agencies and commercial applicators. This program, in its 21st year of operation, helps prevent pesticide residues from entering the soil and local waterways and saves valuable landfill space. This recycling service is free and paid for with money collected from licensing and certification fees and pesticide product registration fees. “This beneficial pesticide recycling program helps to protect the Chesapeake Bay by removing potential contaminants from the environment through proper disposal and provides sources of recycled materials for vendors,” said Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance. “We are very pleased with the response of farmers, commercial pesticide applicators and other pesticide users.” Each year since 1993, MDA has operated an empty pesticide plastic container inspection and collection program open to the public in at least six locations from June through September. In addition, 21 pesticide dealer sites participate in the program. The collected containers are chipped and processed by a contractor hired by the Ag Container Recycling Council […]
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