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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Have you ever tried to recycle triple-rinsed pesticide containers only to be turned away because they were still not considered clean enough to recycle? If so, I think you’ll appreciate the following
letter from Mark Hudson, Executive Director of the Ag Container Recycling Council (ACRC) and the attachments describing what is and isn’t considered clean enough for recycling. I found the photos in the attached “ACRC – Not Acceptable Examples” to be especially
helpful.<i> <o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><u><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#C55A11">Thank you, Cheryl Koury, Executive Director of the Arizona Nursery Association, for sending me this information to distribute widely.
</span></u></i><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">We encourage everyone to do the same during upcoming presentations, expos, meetings or through listservs and newsletters.
<b>Please see the ACRC letter below and the attached documents. </b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Century Schoolbook",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Century Schoolbook",serif">Hello State Agribusiness Associations and Stakeholders!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Century Schoolbook",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Century Schoolbook",serif">We appreciate the partnership your states have with the ACRC and would
<b><u>ask that you share this email with your members and growers in your states</u></b>! With spring upon us, we would value your help in getting this important word out NOW, before container plastic starts to pile up as the products they contain are used.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Century Schoolbook",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Century Schoolbook",serif">The
<a href="https://www.agrecycling.org/">Ag Container Recycling Council (ACRC)</a> is the trade association of the ag chemicals industry, responsible for supporting the collection and proper recycling of ag containers nationwide. The program currently operates
in 46 states and collects ALL types of ag chemical containers including pesticides, animal health, specialty pest control, micronutrient, biologicals, fertilizer, and/or adjuvant product containers. Over the past 30 years, the ACRC program has collected and
recycled over 240,000,000 pounds of container plastic! The program is fully funded by its
<a href="https://www.agrecycling.org/our-members/">member companies</a> who are the manufacturers of these products. Collection of containers takes place through ACRCs
<a href="https://www.agrecycling.org/recycling/collection-sites/">network of contractors</a>.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Century Schoolbook",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Century Schoolbook",serif">ACRC has recently seen concerns in various states with our container acceptance requirements. ACRC would like to stress that the container inspection and cleaning
criteria used by ACRC contractors, is not the contractors standard, but is the ACRC standard which is ultimately the
<b><u>EPA standard</u></b>. This standard was established in the EPA 2006 Container and Containment Rule, requiring 99.99% removal of each active ingredient. A simple way to articulate this standard is “<b>CLEAN means CLEAN, with NO residue seen</b>.” Staining
is fine, but residue is not. We acknowledge that enforcement of this standard by our contractors requires ongoing training and communication due to staff turnover. Ongoing training and communication is also required at the end user level (farmers and professional
applicators). <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Century Schoolbook",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Century Schoolbook",serif">ACRCs goal is and will continue to be, to enforce the above inspection standards, not lower them. As soon as we lower the standard, we jeopardize the program and the
health and safety of all involved. Specific environmental, health and safety (EHS) risks include EHS hazards at collection areas (trailers, staff, soil, groundwater), EHS hazards to downstream parties (contractors, plastic processors, and plastic end users),
EHS risks to non-grower collection site owners (retailers, landfills, recycling centers), EHS risks in transportation, and financial impact through inability to recycle and sell the plastic. Regarding caps and labels, removal and disposal of these has been
the responsibility of the end user, not the contractor, throughout the life of the ACRC program. This requirement is critical to the efficiency of our collection and inspection process. Booklet labels and caps should be discarded but base labels may remain.
Because ACRC contractors cannot be sure what type of product was in each container,
<b>ALL containers must be properly triple or pressure rinsed</b> prior to collection.
<b>This includes non-pesticide products</b>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Century Schoolbook",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Century Schoolbook",serif">While the above may seem like difficult requirements to meet, we know from experience in states all across the country, that these standards are reasonable and readily
achievable. ACRC has many collection sites that continually demonstrate the ability to meet these standards with minimal (0 – 10%) rejects. You will help foster the long term success of the ACRC program, by reinforcing our education and training efforts
to achieve these same results at ALL collection sites in the coming season. <b>
We encourage you to check out the</b> <a href="https://www.agrecycling.org/">ACRC website</a>,
<b>and the attachments to this email, for educational details about rinsing</b>. Several best practices include 1) rinsing at the time of use 2) triple or pressure rinsing until rinsate is water clear and 3) field applying the rinsate. Remember,
<b>CLEAN means CLEAN, with NO residue seen</b>!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Century Schoolbook",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Century Schoolbook",serif">Lastly, ACRC would like to recognize and thank all those who are already participating in the ACRC program. We hope that continues for many years to come. If you
are not currently participating, <b>we hope you will decide to <a href="https://www.agrecycling.org/contact/">
join us</a> as we seek to help take care of your land, family, and community, by giving new life to used plastic</b>!
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Century Schoolbook",serif">Best regards -<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Century Schoolbook",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Century Schoolbook",serif">Mark<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" width="160" height="46" style="width:1.6666in;height:.4791in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01D9679A.B8777000"><b><span style="color:#009966"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:#009966">J. Mark Hudson<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:#595959">Executive Director<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:#595959">Ag Container Recycling Council</span></b><b><span style="font-size:5.0pt;color:#595959"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#009966">
<img border="0" width="15" height="15" style="width:.1527in;height:.1527in" id="Graphic_x0020_6" src="cid:image002.png@01D9679A.B8777000" alt="Receiver outline"> </span></b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:#595959;position:relative;top:-3.0pt;mso-text-raise:3.0pt">919-624-8013</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:#595959"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:110%"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;line-height:110%">
</span><a href="http://www.agrecycling.org/"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;line-height:110%;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#009966;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="15" height="15" style="width:.1527in;height:.1527in" id="Graphic_x0020_7" src="cid:image003.png@01D9679A.B8777000" alt="World outline"></span></a><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;line-height:110%;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#009966"> </span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:110%;color:#595959;position:relative;top:-5.0pt;mso-text-raise:5.0pt"><a href="http://www.agrecycling.org/"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;line-height:110%;color:#595959">www.agrecycling.org</span></a></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;line-height:110%;color:#595959">
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#009966"> <span style="position:relative;top:-3.0pt;mso-text-raise:3.0pt"><img border="0" width="15" height="15" style="width:.1527in;height:.1527in" id="Graphic_x0020_8" src="cid:image004.png@01D9679A.B8777000" alt="Envelope outline"></span> </span></b><u><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:#595959;position:relative;top:-7.0pt;mso-text-raise:7.0pt"><a href="mailto:mhudson@agrecycling.org">mhudson@agrecycling.org</a><o:p></o:p></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:8.0pt;color:black">Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message (including all attachments) from the Ag Container Recycling Council (ACRC) is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential
and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message and any attachments.</span></i><span style="font-size:8.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">Jennifer Weber<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">Pesticide Safety Education Program<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">Maricopa County Cooperative Extension<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">MARICOPA COUNTY COOPERATIVE EXTENSION<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">4341 E. Broadway Road<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">Phoenix, AZ 85040-8807<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">Office: (602) 827-8222<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"><a href="mailto:jennyweber@arizona.edu"><span style="color:#0563C1">jennyweber@arizona.edu</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:black">extension.arizona.edu/maricopa</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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