INDUSTRY NEWS
Bagging a win for the environment
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AGSAFE ' S newest product stewardship initiative, bagMUSTER, began rolling out in early 2025, providing a collection and recycling program for single-use agricultural plastic bags. Designed to complement and expand Agsafe’ s existing waste disposal services— drumMUSTER and ChemClear— bagMUSTER offers Australian growers a sustainable solution for managing plastic waste. Each year, Australian farms generate thousands of tonnes of soft plastic packaging waste from products such as fertilisers, seed, grain, stock feed and pet food. Without an appropriate disposal pathway, this waste often ends up buried, burnt or stockpiled— posing environmental and safety risks. BagMUSTER addresses this gap by providing a responsible and coordinated collection program to recycle these plastics into new products.“ The addition of bagMUSTER to Agsafe’ s suite of stewardship programs marks a pivotal step in closing the loop on agricultural packaging waste,” said Alicia Garden, General Manager of Agsafe.“ We’ ve taken the time to run trials and carefully phase the rollout so we can launch in areas with the right infrastructure, ensuring all collected bags are recycled. " By integrating this initiative with drumMUSTER and ChemClear, we’ re not only simplifying waste management for growers— we’ re helping the entire industry take meaningful action toward circular economy goals and meet rising sustainability and compliance expectations.” Integrated waste stewardship across the supply chain:
• drumMUSTER has been Australia’ s trusted chemical container recycling program for over 25 years, collecting and recycling more than 45 million drums to date.
• ChemClear provides a safe disposal route for unwanted or deregistered AgVet chemicals, helping to keep farms and the environment free from hazardous legacy stock.
In A Nutshell- Winter 2025 Vol 26 Issue 2
Grower keen for recycling program expansion
While bagMUSTER collection sites currently only operate in the western half of Victoria, Riverina almond grower James Callipari helped trial the process.“ I had been trying to get my fertiliser bags recycled for a long time and I’ m glad my local reseller was able to help because it prevented the bags going to landfill,” he said.“ I’ m keen to see bagMUSTER get rolled out into other states including New South Wales.”
• bagMUSTER now completes the offering, giving farmers and retailers a way to dispose of soft plastic packaging through approved collection sites across rural regions.
The initial rollout of bagMUSTER began in western Victoria in early 2025, with a phased national expansion planned. The program is supported by agricultural retailers and chemical manufacturers, with 100 % of collected bags recycled in Australia, avoiding landfill and incineration. The launch of bagMUSTER comes at a critical time for the agricultural sector, as government expectations around packaging waste and recycling intensify. Under the National Environment Protection( Used Packaging Materials) Measure( NEPM) and the Australian Packaging Covenant( APC), manufacturers, importers and retailers are increasingly required to demonstrate how they reduce packaging waste, ensure recyclability, and recover packaging materials after use. BagMUSTER enables participating businesses to meet these requirements by offering a credible, transparent, and nationally coordinated pathway for collecting and recycling used plastic packaging. This not only strengthens sustainability credentials, but also provides the reporting evidence needed to satisfy APC signatory obligations and avoid regulatory risk. At the farm level, the program supports compliance with Quality Assurance( QA) programs, which often require proof of responsible chemical and packaging disposal. BagMUSTER helps growers meet these standards by providing access to approved collection sites and documentation that supports onfarm environmental management systems. Participation in bagMUSTER is simple. Growers drop off eligible bags— shaken out, empty and free of residues— at participating bagMUSTER sites, which are colocated with drumMUSTER sites. This co-location leverages existing infrastructure, making it easy and efficient for growers to manage waste at a single site by dropping off drums and bags at the same time. For more information, visit www. bagmuster. org. au or contact Agsafe on( 02) 6206 6888.