A not for profit environmental stewardship organization will be in Quesnel and Williams Lake this week offering a free obsolete pesticide and livestock medication collection.
Western region business manager for Cleanfarms, Shane Hedderson says they run the return program once every three years in each region and that this year they’ll be coming back to the Northern BC Interior.
“We go as far north as Vanderhoof and then we also continue all the down through the Okanagan Valley down to Oliver is as far south as we go,” Hedderson explains.
“The collection is open for any farmer or rancher who has obsolete or older or unwanted pesticide or livestock medication.”
Hedderson says while they do not see as much material as they would in other locations such as central Alberta or Saskatchewan, approximately 1,000 kg of old pesticide products and 30 kg of old livestock medication was collected three years ago in Quesnel and Williams Lake.
“If we don’t run a program like this it would be up to the farmer or the rancher to dispose of them on their own,” Hedderson adds.
“It’s often very expensive to have these things disposed of properly so we essentially get funding from the manufacturers of these products which allows us to run free collection programs.”
Hedderson says the collected materials are sent for high-temperature incineration which allows them to be kept out of landfills or from ending up in ditches.
Cleanfarms will be offering the free collection from 10 am to 4 pm on Wednesday in Quesnel at Fours Co-op and on Thursday in Williams Lake at 153 Mile Fertilizer.