Netafim envisions ‘green’ agricultural plastics for Mexico

Israeli manufacturer Netafim has begun operations at what it claims is Mexico’s largest agricultural plastic recycling plant.

The new facility in Culiacan currently has a capacity of more than 3 000 tonnes per year. Farmers from Baja California, Sonora, Sinaloa and Chihuahua can drop off used drip irrigation hoses at the collection centre, where they will be crushed, washed, converted into pellets and made into new hoses.

The plant, which includes a laboratory and covers an area of 40 000 square metres, is powered by a photovoltaic solar system and a processed water recirculation system.

Sinaloa was the obvious choice for the plant as it is one of the main agricultural areas in Mexico, says Netafim’s sustainability director John Farner. ‘Mexico is one of our five most relevant markets worldwide. Our facility in Culiacan will provide farmers in the region with an efficient, holistic and rewarding solution to help them achieve their sustainability goals.’

Farner adds that the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization recently highlighted the ‘disastrous way’ plastic is used in agriculture around the world and called on the industry to act on the issue.

Farner points out that Netafim has recycled more than 170 000 tonnes of plastic in recent years thanks to its recycling plant in Fresno and other circularity programmes in Australia, Israel, Peru, Chile and Spain.