Source: NC A&T COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, 5/25/22


Kim Hill knows that keeping plastic out of landfills is good for the environment and for her county’s bottom line.  

Hill, the solid waste manager in Lenoir County, estimated that about 10,000 pounds of plastic—more than five tons—was mulched and recycled between July 2019 and June 2020 thanks to a pesticide container recycling program supported by Cooperative Extension at N.C. A&T. In addition to keeping plastic out of landfills, the program saves the county money on waste hauling. 

“Indirectly, we benefit because we don’t have to pay as much for hauling,” said Hill, who explained that the county operates a transfer station and hauls its waste to a landfill in Sampson County. “We pay for hauling by the ton. We save money, we keep non-degradable plastic out of the landfill, and we save on manpower because it is the farmers who are triple washing their pesticide containers and putting them in the cargo boxes.” 

While Insecticides, herbicides, rodenticides, and fungicides can make crops healthier and more tolerant of pests and severe weather, the plastic containers in which they are packaged can take hundreds of years to break down if disposed of in landfills.

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