Kim Stanford, an associate professor with expertise in microbiology related to cattle and food-borne pathogens, said Japan and South Korea are far ahead of Canada in recycling food waste as feed.

WHY IT MATTERS: As global food demand grows, finding ways to redirect wasted food into livestock feed can help reduce input costs and strengthen the industry’s environmental social licence.

“Starbucks in Japan is recycling their coffee grounds. They’re splitting between feed and fertilizer streams, and they’ve been doing this that since 2010. The Japanese and the Koreans are way ahead of Canada when it comes to using food waste as feed,” said Kim Stanford, an associate professor at the U of L, during her Waste Not, Want Not: Food Waste as Cattle Feed presentation at the Alberta Beef Producers beef research showcase at the Alberta-based university.

“In Japan and South Korea, their regulatory agencies are promoting the recycling of food waste for feed, it’s very different from the CFIA.”

Where Canada’s food waste goes

Not all food waste can be captured for livestock. Roughly half has already reached consumers, and the CFIA maintains strict rules on what can be used in feed. But Stanford said the losses along the supply chain are substantial:

• 13 per cent of the waste happens on farms due to crops not being harvested or not having enough storage space.
• 20 per cent of the waste happens at processing.
• 12 per cent happens at retail stores with damaged goods and poor inventory.
• Five per cent is lost in transportation with refrigeration issues or spillage.

“But even with half of the half, that’s still billions of dollars of food waste that is readily available,” said Stanford.

Hemp and coffee grounds show promise

A survey led by Dr. Vicki Garcia found strong interest among hemp processors in using byproducts for livestock feed. While hemp is not currently on the CFIA approved feed list, Stanford said the concerns differ depending on the type of livestock.

For dairy cattle, studies have shown THC concentrations can transfer into milk at levels high enough to raise toxicity concerns for children. But for beef cattle, trials using 20 per cent hemp seed cake on a dry-matter basis over a 111-day feeding period showed positive results.

“Only trace amounts of THC and derivatives were detected in the fat and none in the lean part. Concentrations of THC in the fat were so low as to not be judged as food safety concerns,” said Stanford.

“A little extra bonus, they showed markers for reduced stress. There’s not a sign that they also have the munchies, but definitely exceptionally chill cattle.”

Coffee grounds are another ingredient not yet on the CFIA approved list, despite large volumes going to landfill daily. At 12 to 20 per cent protein by dry weight, they are also high in fibre and fat. Studies have shown that when coffee grounds make up no more than 20 per cent of the overall diet, there is no reduction in animal performance.

“The high fat concentration in coffee grounds; it’s a consideration. They need to be fed fairly quickly after they were received — you don’t want the fat to go rancid,” Stanford said. “But looks to me like coffee grounds are mixable in with the rest of the diet without the need for extra processing.”

Turning grocery waste into silage

Discarded fruits and vegetables require more processing before they can be used as feed. Stanford noted that appearance standards drive significant waste — roughly 50 per cent of carrots, for example, are deemed too ugly for human consumption. In one study, two types of carrot silage were tested: one mixed with oat hulls and the other with chopped straw. Early results showed the chopped straw blend performing best in sheep trials.

On a larger scale, a program run by Loop Resources — started by a Canadian farmer in 2017 — has matched farmers with retail grocers, keeping 148 million kilograms of food waste out of landfills and contracting with more than 4,000 farmers who collect waste on scheduled pickup days and feed it to livestock.

“You never know exactly what you’re going to get or how much, which is why we wanted to see how easy it would be to turn this grocery food waste into silage,” said Stanford. “With the silage, you can stockpile food waste instead of having to bring it bring it and feed it almost as soon as it get it home.”

In a grocery store waste study, no foods that had gone too far with mould were included. The silage was blended with drier bread products and a variety of fruits and vegetables, targeting a 38 per cent dry matter threshold. Initial samples showed significant yeasts and moulds on basic microbiological plate counts.

But after 60 days of fermentation, the moulds and yeasts were undetectable. The mycotoxin Mycophenolic acid, an immune system suppressor, was also undetectable after being present in initial counts.

“Converting the food waste to silage is helpful for dealing with spoilage organisms. Even at day zero, the concentration of Mycophenolic acid was approximately 20 times lower than is typical for regular grass silage, so it wasn’t enough to really be a concern,” said Stanford, who recommended the approach for smaller operations looking to connect with local grocery stores on food waste recycling.

“From food waste, this will likely not be a food safety concern for feeding your cattle based on our mycotoxin results. But it’s a good idea to keep your eyes on that, depending on what you’re feeding.”

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APRG began their recycling projects by focusing on grain bags and agricultural plastic baler twine.

“We chose those two materials because they were the two that were able to be recycled. There were markets for them and they’re easy to recycle,” said Assar Grinde, chair of APRG.

The APRG formed in 2016 and cooperates with Cleanfarms, a cross-Canadian agricultural stewardship organization that focuses on recovering and recycling agricultural plastics, packaging and products. The APRG is made up of commodity groups, retailers, municipalities, academic institutions, recyclers and farmers.

The grain bag recycling program has been quite successful.

“Part of that is because it’s a bulkier item, that they (farmers) empty all at once. There’s this big item that they need to do something with, and they don’t want it left on the farm,” said Grinde, who raises beef cattle near Bluffton.

Saskatchewan has had a permanent grain bag recycling program for the last seven years, he said.

There are a few municipalities in Alberta, like Wheatland County, that have been collecting grain bags for recycling for quite a while, said Grinde.

“I think there’s a comfort for it, and the uptake on that through the province has been quite good. Twine has been kind of a laggard,” he said.

“The biggest barrier to recycling, especially twine, is just trying it. It’s a culture change on farm,” said Grinde.

Grinde is an avid recycler of twine, and he tells farmers they don’t have to recycle twine perfectly.

“If you take twine off a bale, if it’s clean, have a recycling barrel next to your garbage barrel. You put the clean twine in there and you’ll be amazed with how much you can collect without doing any extra work,” he said.

To raise awareness and encourage twine recycling, APRG ran the Great Twine Round-Up contest in Alberta, in collaboration with Cleanfarms. The goal was to increase awareness and get more people to recycle twine.

“I really do think the biggest barrier to recycling, especially twine, is just trying it,” said Grinde.

The Great Twine Round-Up contest was successful. The contest was aimed at younger people, and Alberta farmers and 4-H clubs collected and returned baler twine.

“I think the twine collection volumes were up about 60 per cent over the last quarter. So that was positive and that’s something we hope to keep doing,” said Grinde.

The contest ran for seven months and wrapped up on May 31. There were 660 entries and 33 participants in all categories. The contest resulted in a collection of an estimated 16,500 kilograms of twine.

There were two prize draws during the collection period. Prizes were distributed to three winning 4-H clubs and a ranch in the Special Areas 2 who plan to direct their prize to an Alberta-based charity. Each prize was $3,000.

The two winners in the 4-H Club category were the Rocky South 4-H Beef Club, and the Hanna Rangeland 4-H Multi Club. The early-bird 4-H Club was won by Lethbridge Northern 4-H Beef Club.

The initiative was made possible by the APRG, with funds from the Government of Alberta and administration by the Alberta Beef Producers.

The original recycling pilot was originally supposed to run three years, but it has been extended multiple times.

“The current pilot is due to expire at the end of 2025 and so right now, we actually have a proposal for another extension into the Alberta government,” said Grinde.

“They’re aware the pilot will run out of money at the end of the year,” he said.

The APRG is waiting to hear from the Alberta government to see if the project will be extended.

“We’re really hoping to turn it into a permanent program, because we don’t want this as a perpetual pilot program,” he said.

The Alberta government recently introduced extended producer responsibility (EPR) for household plastics for the entire province. A law was passed, and came into effect, April 2025. Extended producer responsibility (EPR) means the manufacturers or first sellers of the project are responsible for collecting the material.

“It’s a user pay model so the people that are using the plastic pay for the recycling of it when they buy it,” he said.

This is the same as a milk container or pop bottle deposit.

“EPR is what all jurisdictions are going toward, because it leaves it up to industry. The government isn’t involved, other than setting thresholds and maybe enforcement at some point. They set the target collection rates and then you let industry determine the most efficient way of collecting it for recycling, and so that’s why we thought it made sense to have ag plastics just fall under that,” he said.

Alberta Environment and Protected Areas will bring household paper, plastic packaging and household hazardous waste into their EPR.

Grinde said the APRG has been asking for ag plastics to be brought into the regulation.

For policy to change, the government needs to do stakeholder engagement. The Government of Alberta launched a survey on Agricultural Plastics Management Engagement on July 31, and it will be open until September 12. The survey is being done by Alberta Environment and Protected Areas, and Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation. The goal is to engage people on the potential inclusion of agricultural plastics in a provincial regulatory system for collecting and recycling agricultural plastics waste. The survey examines what types of agricultural plastic should be included, implementation timing, material recovery rate targets, and service standards for material collection.

The survey can be found at https://your.alberta.ca/ag-plastics/surveys/survey

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“Transitioning to a retail-based collection for the jug program shifts responsibility to accept empty containers from Alberta municipalities to the ag industry, which harmonizes the collection system across Canada,” said Barry Friesen, executive director of Cleanfarms. “In all other provinces except Alberta and Manitoba, we collect empty containers at ag retailers.”

The move, which is also occurring in Manitoba, is being phased in over three years, but 21 municipal sites in Alberta will shortly be exiting the program or already have, the organization said.

“These municipal locations have not been extensively used in recent years,” Cleanfarms said in a release. “In case producers do go there, signage is prominent, along with Cleanfarms website information to redirect producers to the new, nearby collection sites. Ag retailer sites will open, some even before municipal sites close, to accept empty pesticide and fertilizer containers.”

Being able to drop off 23-litre and smaller containers — in addition to drums and totes — at ag retailers will be more convenient for farmers and they will also be given, at no cost, a large plastic bag that can hold up to about 45 empty containers each.

“Producers like the plastic bags,” said Friesen. “They make managing empty containers simple. In provinces where we’ve been using plastic bags for a while, recycling rates have increased. Bags make it easier to manage empties so producers bring back more of them for recycling. This works quite well.”

Another 58 municipal sites in Alberta will stop collecting containers at the end of the year, with the remainder following in 2023 and 2024. For more information, the Cleanfarms website has a map that shows all the municipal sites and they are colour coded according to when they will stop accepting empty pesticide and fertilizer containers.

“Producers should ask their ag retailers when they can start returning empty jugs to those locations,” the Cleanfarms release said.

Before dropping off ag plastic jugs, producers are required to:

• Rinse containers (by way of chemical handler/triple rinsing/or pressure rinsing);
• Remove paper booklets, and discard; take caps off and discard; and
• Place rinsed containers in a collection bag and securely close (and not place any other materials in the collection bag other than pesticide and fertilizer jugs).

However, seed treatment containers are handled differently. Caps must be securely on to prevent contamination and they should be bagged separately from non-seed treatment containers.

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Nationwide, about 2.2 million tonnes of organic waste are sent to landfills annually and it could be composted and spread on fields, the organization said.

“We have traditionally looked at composting as a solution to a waste management problem,” recycling council executive director Christina Seidel said in a release. “That approach is fraught with issues because we need a place for the resulting materials to go.

“Through this project, we looked at compost as a resource and where it is best used — on farms. Compost improves the soil and is a valuable resource for farmers.”

In addition to an overview of methods for making and applying compost, the 26-page guide profiles Strickland Farms near Penhold, which originally began applying compost purchased from the Bowden Institution in the late 2000s. But after the closure of the institution’s composting facility, the family began its own composting operation in 2010. Strickland Farms first composted biosolids and later began accepting municipal organic waste from Sylvan Lake and Innisfail and then from Red Deer’s Green Cart program and commercial organic waste from Calgary and other locations in Alberta and B.C.

The farm now has a 22-acre composting site and is managed by Brian Strickland. It uses a multi-step process beginning with aerated static piles (which have aeration pipes under them) and later involves screening and placing the material into windrows. The compost spends eight weeks in the windrows and is mechanically turned three times before field application.

“Currently, Stickland Farms accepts 35,000 tonnes of organic waste per year, with up to 160 tonnes coming in per day,” the guide states. “In addition to Brian, the operation employs three to four full-time staff.”

The guide, which is free and can be downloaded online, covers a number of topics beginning with the registration and approval process. Other topics include cost estimates for setting up a compost facility, feed stock supply, composting methods, site layout, and storage.

There is a section on understanding compost, which covers nutrient composition, electrical conductivity, and moisture content. The section on applying compost looks at applications limits and setbacks.

“By applying compost, farmers can reduce the use of synthetic fertilizers, increase crop yields, and improve overall soil quality,” the recycling council said in its press release.

It also says compost balances pH, increases water retention, and “adds disease resistance through the formation of a healthy community of microbes.”

To download An Introductory Guide to On-Farm Composting, go to recycle.ab.ca and visit the On-Farm Composting page.

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That’s on par with 2019 numbers. Last year’s collection brought the total number of jugs recovered for recycling since the beginning of the program in 1989 to more than 137 million.

Placed end-to-end, that number of containers would stretch around the world at the equator 1.3 times. Plastic containers are recycled into new products such as farm drainage tile.

In the Prairie provinces, a growing number of farmers are using grain bags as temporary storage for cereal grains. In Saskatchewan, where recycling grain bags is regulated under a provincial program, the amount returned has doubled to 2,536 tonnes since the inception of the program in 2018. Of the farmers who use grain bags, 59 per cent report they recycle them.

The combination of grain bags, baler twine and ag-film collected in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba added up to about 6,900 tonnes since these materials started to be collected in Cleanfarms-operated pilot projects.

“Our goal is to help farmers reduce the amount of waste generated behind the farmgate, and to offer programs that help farmers fuel the circular economy by recycling instead of having to landfill these materials,’ said Cleanfarms general manager Barry Friesen.

A pilot program to collect seed, pesticide and inoculant bags in Alberta will take place again this year, and a pilot program to collect bale wrap and silage plastic is currently underway in Lethbridge County. In the fall, there will be a collection of unwanted pesticide and livestock/animal medications in southern Alberta collection events.

Information about Cleanfarms programs in Alberta and recycling locations will be available shortly at cleanfarms.ca (click on the Program by Province link).

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This is an investment that benefits all of Canada, given the importance of our agricultural industry to feed our country and the world.

While necessary to Canada’s agricultural industry, at the end of the day, farmers are left to manage waste materials that include traditional bags, grain bags, silage wrap, netting, and twine made of plastic. Over the years, farmers have stepped up their efforts — working with municipal and retail collection partners alike — to properly manage this material through recycling and safe disposal.

This commitment to eliminate plastic waste from our environment is shared between all Canadians, who are doing their part to recycle. With a renewed focus on programs that shift the cost of recycling from municipalities back to plastic producers and users, I believe we can eliminate waste from our environment without sacrificing the plastics that so many of us rely on.

Fortunately, on-farm recycling is expanding in Canada.

I work with Cleanfarms, an industry-funded, not-for profit organization that operates programs on behalf of the agricultural industry to manage waste materials from crop inputs, crop storage and animal health products. Now in our 10th year, we operate throughout the entire country to collect plastic pesticide and fertilizer jugs and containers, among other items, for recycling. In our largest nationwide program for pesticide and fertilizer jugs (23 litres and under), farmers returned nearly 5.5 million containers in 2019. Since this program started 30 years ago, Cleanfarms has collected more than 131.5 million jugs.

We operate a system on behalf of the 70 companies that manufacture and sell agricultural products to farmers across Canada. These companies provide funding to make sure the waste materials from their products and packages are kept out of the environment using what’s known as an “extended producer responsibility” approach. Farmers from coast to coast bring agricultural containers and other items to Cleanfarms collection sites, knowing they will be managed responsibly, either through recycling or safe disposal.

The success of these programs points to the power of implementing collaborative programs to manage plastics and incentivize Canadians to adopt a zero-waste outlook.

Additionally, innovation is key.

At Cleanfarms, we are focused on transforming more recycled goods into brand new plastics products that farmers can use on the farm, year after year. As new products become more widely used, they call for new management approaches — in agriculture and elsewhere. In 2018, with our partners we rolled out a new grain bag recycling program in Saskatchewan which is currently the only government-regulated extended producer responsibility program of its kind in Canada. In 2019, this program helped farmers in the province recycle 2,256 tonnes of used plastic grain bags in 2019, a 44 per cent increase in volume over 2018.

Ag waste materials such as grain bags, agricultural plastic containers and bulk plastic containers — that are essential to a successful harvest — are turned into such items as farm drainage tile and plastic bags.

By recognizing waste materials as a valuable resource, we can eliminate plastic waste from the environment, create new jobs in recycling, while still helping farmers feed Canada.

While Saskatchewan’s grain bag recycling program has been an overwhelming success, we’ve also launched similar pilots in Manitoba and Alberta in partnership with local provincial governments. Next year, Manitoba’s government-funded pilot will transition to a permanent, industry-funded program.

In Alberta, in addition to our collection programs (one for old pesticide and fertilizer containers, and another for unwanted and obsolete pesticides and animal health products), we are operating a three-year pilot program (“Alberta Ag-Plastic. Recycle it!”) for recycling grain bags and twine on behalf of the Agricultural Plastics Recycling Group. It is funded by the province and administered by Alberta Beef Producers.

The results of these efforts speak for themselves.

Supported by the ag industry, Canadian farmers, retailers, collectors and recyclers consistently demonstrate their commitment to the environment by participating in convenient programs to help reduce waste and promote sustainability in agriculture. Collaboration between government and industry is an important key to these effective waste management programs and I’m proud to work in an industry that offers opportunities for this industry to contribute to ag plastics producer responsibility programs, and innovative advanced recycling technologies.

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That means there are now 26 collection sites in the province but since not all of them accept both bags and twine, producers should first check the list of collection sites at cleanfarms.ca (click on the Programs by Province tab and then on Alberta Ag-Plastic Recycle It!). In addition to stating what products are accepted at each site, the site list has hours of operation, directions, contact info and whether the site has a grain bag roller that producers can use.

The Alberta Ag-Plastic Recycle It! program is a three-year pilot that launched last year following a study that estimated Alberta farms generate between 1,480 and 2,500 tonnes of grain bags annually and between 1,320 and 3,000 tonnes of polypropylene twine.

The six new sites are in Clear Hills County (Cleardale Transfer Station), County of Forty Mile No. 8 (Foremost Transfer Station), County of Minburn (Mannville Waste Transfer Station), Cypress County (Hilda Transfer Station), Flagstaff County (Flagstaff Waste Regional Landfill) and MD of Provost (Provost Regional Landfill).

Producers should make use of the program, said Stacey Barrows, who operates a 4,300-acre grain farm in the County of Forty Mile with husband Brent.

“We all need to recycle not only to keep our farms healthy, but also to teach younger generations to be stewards of the land, too,” Stacey said in a CleanFarms release.

The pilot project is funded by a provincial grant, which is being administered by Alberta Beef Producers.

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The organization, which has offices in Quebec, Ontario and Saskatchewan, has hired environmental scientist Davin Johnson for the Lethbridge operation.

Johnson grew up in Alberta and has worked for the past decade in the oil and gas, academic, government and ag sectors. He has helped to organize Cleanfarms’ unwanted pesticide and livestock/equine medication collection program and the newly launched ‘Alberta Ag-plastic. Recycle it!’ pilot program that has 20 locations throughout the province to collect grain bags and twine for recycling.

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For year one of this three-year pilot, Cleanfarms has established 20 collection sites throughout the province. Most are currently taking rolled, tied grain bags of any size, and twine for recycling. Some, however, just take grain bags and a few take only twine.

A full roster of collection locations and what they take can be found on cleanfarms.ca. The website also has instruction on preparing materials for recycling.

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The ‘Alberta Ag-Plastic. Recycle It!’ program, funded by the province and administered by Alberta Beef Producers has 20 drop-off sites.

Collections started in October but producers should check with the site in their area to confirm it is up and running as well as hours of operation and other details.

The list of sites and organizations operating them can be found at cleanfarms.ca (click on the Programs by Province tab and then on Alberta Ag-Plastic. Recycle It!).

The pilot is slated to run for three years and more sites may be added.

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