At the moment, sowing and preparations for the harvest are in full swing, and at the same time the RIGK take-back systems for the agricultural sector have started their 2023 collection period, or will do so shortly. The IK Initiative ERDE already started to take back used harvest plastics at the end of February, while the PAMIRA® SYSTEM has been collecting plant protection product and liquid fertiliser packagingsince mid-March. VerenA, the new take-back system for empty used agricultural Big Bags filled with non-hazardous products, will also carry out its first collections during the collection period. At the beginning of March, farmers were already able to dispose of empty seed dressing packaging safely and sustainably via the BEIZE SYSTEM, and preparations are also already under way for the PRE-SYSTEM. The collection will take place in November and 2023 also marks the 10th anniversary of the system for the recovery and disposal of unusable plant protection products and other chemicals from the agricultural sector.

In addition to the introduction of the VerenA-SYSTEM, several innovations will be used in RIGK’s existing agricultural systems during the upcoming collection period.

• The ERDE Initiative was able to announce that with 38,476 tonnes of agricultural plastics collected in 2022, they were able to achieve a CO2 reduction of 42,748 tonnes. ERDE is also welcoming Portuguese twine producer Sicor SA as another participating manufacturer. Beginning this year, the complete take-back of the new 8th fraction – mulch film – will also be offered. A new database for the current collection period is also available on the ERDE website. Users of agricultural plastics can access this database to search for specific product names and find out whether the products they use are licensed in ERDE.
• In the PAMIRA® SYSTEM, an “easyconnect” system is being introduced by the industry to enable the contactless use of crop protection products. Because there are different requirements for taking back packaging, RIGK has adjusted the associated conditions. In addition, after a successful two-year test phase, four more PAMIRA press containers were introduced in order to further reduce CO2 emissions and the logistical effort involved in organising collection points. The press containers are used in the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria.

RIGK welcomes these innovations and views them as further evidence of a growing demand for the sustainable takeback and recycling of packaging and plastics and the continuous further development of RIGK’s take-back systems in the agricultural sector. In this context, RIGK would like to thank all participants for their extensive use of and support for the systems. RIGK also hopes to see continued committed participation and use of the systems during the upcoming collection period so that together we can all take another significant step towards a sustainable circular economy this year as well.

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