Managing Waste in the Agricultural Industry

Agricultural waste comes with many unique challenges for farmers, giving them the dilemma of managing crop residues or dealing with livestock byproducts. Handling waste in agriculture properly and effectively is vital for reducing environmental impact, gaining economic benefits, and improving farm efficiency. Having proper waste management for farms ensures that they’re compliant with legal requirements while transforming waste into crucial resources, such as compost, soil amendments and energy.

Novus Environmental has created this guide for managing waste in the agricultural industry to inform you about the challenges faced, how to make it more sustainable, how to correctly handle waste in agriculture and practical strategies to implement to strive for a safer and greener future in farming. Whether you have a small operation or manage a large farm, you can use these tips to improve your waste management and help to make a sustainable future.

What is agricultural waste?

Agricultural waste means the byproducts of farming activities that are created during agricultural production. These are often produced in huge quantities and are a massive environmental and health challenge if they aren’t handled correctly. Agricultural waste management is vital to protect the environment and make farming more sustainable.

Agricultural waste can be split into two categories: organic and inorganic waste. Organic includes things such as manure, crop residues and other plant or animal by-products. Inorganic is the non-biodegradable materials, like plastic and packaging.

Types of agricultural waste

There are multiple types of agricultural waste that farms produce. Understanding what these are aids farmers in tailoring their processes for more efficient disposal and recycling. The main types of waste in agriculture are:

• Crop residues and plant materials: Crop residues are a huge factor in organic waste for farms and include stalks, leaves and husks left behind after harvest. Around 1.2 billion tonnes of food is wasted on farms every year, so handling these correctly can make the soil better and cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.
• Chemical and pesticides: This type of waste is common as chemicals and pesticides are regularly used in many farming activities. Pesticides can stay in containers after use which has a negative impact on the environment.
• Animal manure and livestock waste: Livestock activities produce lots of manure and other waste which includes faeces, urine, and bedding materials. It’s crucial to manage animal waste effectively as it is responsible for around 21% of greenhouse gas emissions across the world.
• Packaging and plastic materials: The agricultural industry produces huge amounts of plastic waste from packaging, crop covers, and containers. Having recycling initiatives can lessen pollution and support sustainability in farming.

The impact of farm waste on the environment

Waste in agriculture is a massive issue for our environment. This is due to it affecting soil, water, air and local ecosystems. It is pivotal to understand what the environmental impact of farm waste is to help prevent damage to our planet and strive for a sustainable future. These effects are:

• Water pollution: Runoffs from farms include harmful substances that leak into bodies of water. This pollution is a danger to fish and makes the water unsafe for humans.
• Air quality: When organic waste decomposes, it releases gases such as methane. This is a strong greenhouse gas that damages the environment.
• Soil contamination and degradation: If agricultural waste isn’t disposed of correctly, it contaminates the soil. Fertilisers and pesticides can build up underground, which is a threat to the soil, leading to crops growing poorly.
• Impact on local ecosystems: Waste in agriculture affects the ecosystems around farms. The pollution made harms biodiversity and changes habitats negatively.

Benefits of proper waste management

Proper agricultural waste management gives farmers and the planet multiple benefits, particularly when it comes to the economy for farmers. Farms can make more money using proper waste management while harming the environment less, ensuring they have sustainable practices in place for a greener future.

Using green practices allows farms to save huge sums of money and find new and unique ways to earn too. Being open to recycling agricultural waste does even more than improve the environment. It can make the soil better and help crops grow stronger, providing more tasty food. This reduces the cost of spending on chemicals as farmers won’t need as much, helping to keep the land healthy while saving money.

Turning waste into energy is also another new way for farms to earn money. Farmers can make fuel from animal waste and the leftovers of plants. The fuel can be used to power homes for items such as stoves and even electricity. Farmers can save on energy costs and can even make money by selling extra power.

Ultimately, utilising proper agricultural waste management ensures farmers abide by the law, avoiding legal trouble that can occur for unsustainable practices. Following the rules allows farms to save money and make more money as they keep a good reputation.

Steps to successfully manage agricultural waste

Managing farm waste correctly needs a concise and clear plan. To help you successfully manage agricultural waste, we have crafted some tips to strive toward a greener future. These steps will help to reduce the negative effects on the environment and use resources more efficiently.

Waste assessment

To start, it is best to do a waste in agriculture assessment of your farm. This aids farmers in sorting and acknowledging the various types of waste they have on their farms. See how many and what kind of crop residues, animal manure and chemical containers you have.

Making an agricultural management plan

Creating an agricultural management plan after your farm has been assessed. This plan should outline sustainable changes you can make to reduce your negative environmental impact. You should include ideas like composting for organic waste to make the soil better. You can also incorporate ideas of cutting down synthetic fertilisers. For animal manure, you can use anaerobic digestion systems that create nutrient-rich byproducts.

Implementing the strategies

When you have made your waste plan, start implementing it by setting clear goals and giving staff tasks. To aid with the implementation of sustainable strategies, you can use new technology such as remote sensing and GPS to use inputs better and create less waste. Monitor how the strategies are working and make changes to your plan if needed.

Sustainable waste reduction techniques

Using sustainable agricultural waste management techniques is vital for farmers to cut down on waste. Producing food is a massive contribution to greenhouse gas emissions which puts pressure on farms to strive for sustainable alternatives. But how can this be achieved?

• Composting: This is an effective way to deal with agricultural waste. It works for farms of all sizes and makes the soil better quality, producing stronger crops. Using compost also cuts down the use of chemical fertilisers.
• Mulching: This method uses farm waste to keep the soil moist, fight off weeds and prevent erosion. Mulch massively helps with keeping soil healthy and working properly.
• Anaerobic digestion: These systems are a winner when it comes to making farming more sustainable. They turn waste into energy and make fertiliser for crops. This helps to reduce the environmental damage of farming.
• Converting waste to energy: This is a great way to reuse waste. Burning biomass can make heat and electricity and crops can be fermented to create ethanol, a cleaner fuel than gasoline.

Agricultural waste disposal

Agricultural waste disposal must be handled correctly and safely to help the environment and abide by key legislation. Farmers need to store manure and compost in covered areas and ensure chemicals are in the right containers, keeping them away from water to prevent contamination.

Handling agricultural waste in a sustainable way is vital for keeping an eco-friendly and productive farm. Using greener methods, such as recycling and energy conversion, can reduce waste production, generate renewable energy and improve soil and crops. Taking these strategies on board and implementing greener ways minimises the negative environmental impact farms have on our planet, striving for a healthier and more sustainable future.

At Novus Environmental, we know the importance of handling animal by-products safely, as well as all agricultural waste. We are industry leaders in animal by-products, with over 40 years of experience! Our expertise enables us to simplify the disposal process, making it easier than ever to correctly discard your waste. Our agricultural waste disposal service can handle all types of loads always, due to our national animal by-products approved site infrastructure.

Whatever category your agricultural waste and animal by-products fall into, please contact us to find out how we can dispose of your animal by-products safely, correctly and swiftly!