A recycling solution for synthetic bale cord was developed by researchers from La Trobe University, Bendigo.
The agricultural industries use millions of cord every year, with most of them end up on landfill or burned at farms.
With the partner company Ritchie Technology, researchers have closed a recycling system and an inexpensive melting machine.
“We have successfully shown that Bale Twine melt and useful, long -lasting products such as garden planters, furniture and building materials outdoors such as Decking or fence posts can be reformed,” said Senior Researcher and Associate Professor Ing Kong.
“This work not only offers an environmentally friendly solution for reducing agricultural plastic waste, but also shows the possibility of building a sustainable round economy in Victoria.
“Apart from the direct environmental impacts, it could possibly affect industrial practices by providing scalable, inexpensive recycling solutions.”
The RTEC melting machine is designed for use on the farm and both compactly and affordable.
Dr. William Richie, founder and CEO of Richie Technology, said the product was a “triple profit” for the agricultural sector, the environment and the economy.
“This new technology offers an inexpensive economic and ecological solution for combating rising bunch of agricultural plastic waste,” said Dr. Richie.
“There will be the tools to reduce their ecological footprint, reduce their waste disposal costs and at the same time offer the additional advantage of a potential sale of recycled plastic material to the manufacturers.”
The project was supported by a grant of 145,000 US dollars by the state government of the state government of Victoria's sustainability.
It is to be hoped that the initiative will be used for a number of applications of plastic waste in the future, which leads to both ecological and economic advantages.