15.4  Disposal of chemical drums

CICL has operated a drum crushing facility at its Works Depot since 1995. This was one of the first rural drum crushing services. The final date on which CICL collected drums was 22 June 2001.

With the introduction of the druMUSTER national chemical container-recycling scheme, the Murrumbidgee Shire will now carry through the initiative of CICL in receiving, crushing and recycling agricultural chemical drums.  The cost of this service will come from the four cents per litre or kilogram that is levied on the wholesale price of agricultural chemicals in Australia. The total number of druMUSTER-labelled drums was 6,660, including 558 plastic containers. Only 229 non-druMUSTER-labelled drums were received.

The benefits of the druMUSTER scheme include reducing the volume of landfill at Shire tips and reducing the presence of drums on farms. Because the drums must be triple-rinsed and punctured before they can be accepted for crushing the risks associated with empty drums with possible residual product are reduced.

Once crushed the metal drums are transported to Melbourne for recycling. Reusable plastic drums will be returned to the relevant chemical company. Non-reusable drums will be shredded and recycled for uses such as plastic culvert pipes.

On average, around 4,000 drums are collected and crushed each year.  In the previous two years the numbers of drums accepted by CICL dropped considerably.  However, the total number of drums accepted in 2000/2001 was 6,889. This increase was due to the commencement of the collection of plastic drums and the inclusion of drums from a larger number of farms within the increased operational area of CICL. 

The “Chemcollect” service was operated from the CICL Depot on 21 and 22 June for the disposal of unwanted agricultural chemicals.  This was well supported by farmers. A considerable quantity of obsolete and unwanted chemicals was collected for approved disposal using the best available technology.