ChemClear is heading to Western Australia in June 2016 and is urging chemical users to register their surplus or unwanted agvet chemicals for safe disposal before 22 April 2016.
“We encourage WA farmers to seize the opportunity to use our program this year as it will be another two years before we head back across the Nullarbor,” said National Program Manager Lisa Nixon.
Since the program was established 16 years ago, ChemClear has undertaken five regional collection runs across Western Australia and retrieved in excess of 61 tonnes of obsolete agvet chemicals.
The program uses local council sites to collect from waste holders who have registered their chemicals for retrieval. The collection process is quick and easy, and waste holders are given an appointment time to meet the ChemClear retrieval team to drop off their registered chemicals for safe disposal.
“Our program operates like a milk run and visits every local government region that we have received a registration in, even if there is only one or a handful of waste holders in that area,” said Ms Nixon. “We are required to obtain licences for the transportation and removal of hazardous waste, therefore each waste holder must take an inventory of their obsolete chemicals before registering for the program.”
WAFarmers Chief Executive Officer Stephen Brown believes ChemClear is critical for maintaining a safe working environment for farmers.
“Our organisation is committed to ensuring farmers are provided with safe working environments and we’re proud to support the ChemClear initiative which works towards this goal,” he said.
“Unused chemicals on rural properties can pose occupational safety and health risks for farmers, so we encourage all our members to work sustainably and dispose of obsolete chemicals through this environmentally safe method.”
ChemClear collects APVMA currently registered chemicals produced by 121 manufacturers supporting the Industry Waste Reduction Scheme. Chemicals classified as Group 1 are collected free of charge.
As an additional service, ChemClear collects what is classified as Group 2 chemicals. This category covers deregistered, out-of-date, mixed, unlabelled or unknown agvet chemicals produced by a manufacturer not signed to the ChemClear stewardship program.
There is a cost for disposal of Group 2 chemicals which is quoted to the waste holder once their registration has been processed.
To register for the WA June collection, please take an inventory of your product and call 1800 008 182 or visit www.chemclear.com.au.
It is recommended that waste holders do this as soon as possible as registrations close on 22 April 2016.