Alabama Case History

Alabama sees dramatic spike in container recycling pickup – 108%

In 2003, the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industry tracked 184,700 pounds of pesticide containers that were recycled by commercial applicators and growers within the state. In 2004, the figure was 384,698 pounds -- an increase of 108% made possible by the coordinated effort of Tony Cofer, the state’s Program Director of Pesticide Management and Sam Gibson of USAg Recycling, the Agricultural Container Recycling Council’s contractor for the Southern and Mid Atlantic States.

When Cofer evaluated the recycle patterns of the state’s commercial pesticide users, he realized that while all areas could improve their participation, some parts of the state were clearly underserved, in particular wiregrass counties Henry Houston and Geneva, and cotton counties Madison and Limestone. Cofer’s goal was to put a program in place that would target specific areas and end-users; educate users on the practices and benefits of recycling; and service drop-off locations or coordinate pickup schedules for those ready to participate. For the program to be successful, Cofer needed to engage the cooperation of all commercial pesticide users including row crop farmers, aerial applicators, ag retailers, tree service groups, and county highway departments.

Cofer utilized his field staff of seven inspectors to oversee the process. To keep the container rejection rate to a minimum, users needed to be educated on the benefits of preparing and cleaning containers through pressure or triple rinsing. To expedite this step, Cofer’s staff gave out free pressure rinse nozzles along with instructions. Setting up manned drop off sites was also essential to ensure that only properly rinsed containers were accepted for recycling. A highlight was encouraging several aerial applicators and large growers to get involved and take containers from other growers. Surplus cotton wagons were used for container storage until the ACRC Contractor USAg Recycling could move its trucks in place to pick up. Inspectors went to where the users were, including participating in trade shows.

Cofer’s 2005 effort targeted larger growers who were not participating, and he anticipates reporting another sizeable increase.

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