PLASTIC BECOMES A FARM PROBLEM

Maine Public Broadcasting - Amy Quinton from New Hampshire Public Radio reports farms and nurseries are using so much plastic -- thousands of pounds a year --that they're having a tough time getting rid of it. . .

Farmers used to store hay in silos or barns. Now it's encased in plastics to protect it from moist weather in the northeast. The ag bags are about eight feet in diameter and 200-feet long. . .

Because some of that plastic can be dirty or torn, it's hard to reuse it, or to find a recycler who will take dirty plastic. . .

Farmers all over the region are facing the same problem. So are nurseries and garden centers, which are saddled with plastic greenhouse covers, trays and pots. . .

He estimates his company goes through about a half million plastic flower pots a year. made from polypropylene, one of the less common plastics. "It's tough to get someone to want to use it and recycle it," he says. "As far as I know all the people that are interested in recycling it are in the midwest."

Cole says he's found just one company out of Michigan that's willing to pick up and recycle his flower pots -- but only when he has a full truckload. Cole says most garden centers, even the large ones, end up taking their pots to landfills.