If you don’t have livestock, you’re probably wondering, “What’s this all about?”
Unless you know people who do have horses, cows, goats, sheep, etc., don’t worry about it. Read a different article.
But if you do have livestock, you might be saying “HALLELUJAH!, It’s about time.” As you know, there are only so many fence/truck/etc. repairs and so many craft projects you can make out of baling twine. A fairly small horse operation using two bales of hay a day generates 2,190 strings a year. And, at this point, it all goes into our landfills — and adds to the global, omnipresent, non-biodegradable plastics problem.
Hay baling twine is made from Polypropylene # 5. No recyclers in southern Arizona take it. It tangles their machines. However, RMC Industrial in Glendale does take it. The quotes in this article are taken from its website https://haytwinerecycling.com/.
Cindy Martin and I have teamed up to help get this stuff out of our landfills and back into circulation. We did a trial run in July but didn’t get the info out in a timely fashion. However, the people who brought strings were very enthusiastic and will be spreading the word.
So, what happens to the stuff after it gets to the plant? According to RMC: “Automotive components, consumer durable goods, and reusable commercial packaging are just some of the items we convert (from) polypropylene twine.”
Unfortunately, recycling dropoff points tend to collect garbage. For this reason, the solution is collection events. The twine needs to be fairly clean — you don’t have to wash it, just shake off the hay and put it in a bag. Put really dirty stuff in your trash.
The first real collection event will be on the Saturday of the Ranch Rodeo at the Fairgrounds in Sonoita — Sept. 12, from 7 to 10 a.m. Donations are requested to offset the cost of taking the twine to Glendale, with proceeds going to the Patagonia Regional Aquatics Center. For more info, contact Clare at clarebonelli@gmail.com (no i in Clare!) or Cindy at 520.216.1168 — and watch for flyers!