In a Nutshell Spring 2022 Vol 23 Issue 3 | Page 29

By working closely with their Australian recycling partners with the goal of purchasing recycled resin and using it to make new dripline and other irrigation products , Netafim work towards creating a truly closed loop system . Netafim products that contain recycled field waste material are known as ReGen . Any recycled resin that cannot be used by Netafim ReGen is utilised by Australian and overseas manufacturers to produce a range of products . To assist growers in the recycling process , Netafim has dripline recoil machines available for hire for a small fee of $ 100 per day . The hire fee encourages economic use of the recoil machine and timely return to Netafim which frees it up for use by others . This increases the sustainability of the process , as farmers have easy and affordable access to recoil machines , they do not need to purchase their own , a productsharing system that is congruent with Netafim ’ s goal of achieving a circular economy . The feedback Netafim has received has been positive . Bryce Freundt first heard about Netafim Recoil when he saw it

Five or six years ago you could roll it all up , but there was nowhere to take it to be recycled .
advertised in his local irrigation shop in Loxton . For Bryce , who manages Select Harvests ’ New Residence Orchard in the Riverland , the process was straightforward and costeffective . Bryce said it took four employees a week to remove , cut , and recoil almost 100km of dripline - and he said he would definitely do it again . " Five or six years ago you could roll it all up but there was nowhere to take it to be recycled ,” he said . As a result , Bryce said there was a large amount of old dripline on the farm that he hopes will be recycled soon . However , he is concerned that the process may not be so accessible to growers with smaller farms , with fewer employees , less dripline , and in some cases less capacity to spend money . Generally , a minimum of 90km of dripline is needed to access subsidised recycling prices for Netafim clients . However , Netafim strives to make its service accessible to all .
Sometimes 2-3 smaller growers can work together to fill a truck . While there may be some additional costs associated with pickup , Netafim will endeavour to help small growers in the most cost-efficient way possible . Riverland-based almond grower Craig Spilsbury first heard about Netafim Recoil Service when his neighbour contacted him to say he was recycling some dripline and needed more to fill the truck . Craig was so impressed with the process that when he needed to replace some of his dripline again this year , he contacted Netafim . “ I liked the thought that I could recycle the dripline ," he said . Craig contributed 26km of recoiled dripline for recycling . However , by organising freight for several small growers , Netafim made the process seamless and kept costs low . In fact , for Craig , the cost of the freight was slightly less than it would have cost him to place his old dripline in landfill .
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