The Pesticide Container Recycling Program was developed by members of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, and UNL Extension, in 1991. UNL Extension has subsequently coordinated and guided the project’s development, organization, promotion and collections.

The project is self-supporting after receiving initial support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for 1992 and 1993. A coalition of eight organizations and three state departments initially aided the project development and promotion. They formed the Nebraska Pesticide Container Recycling Committee, which consisted of representatives from the Nebraska Aviation Trades Association, the Nebraska Cooperative Council, the Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation, the Nebraska Fertilizer & Ag-Chemical Institute, the Nebraska Independent Crop Consultants Association, the Nebraska State Pest Control Association, the Nebraska Turfgrass Foundation, the Nebraska Weed Control Association, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension, the Nebraska Department of Agriculture and the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality.

The Nebraska Pesticide Container Recycling Program is touted by the U.S. EPA as a model for other states. The program incorporates multiple collection strategies by offering year-long, season-long and specific date collections of containers.

Every year, about 1 million plastic agricultural pesticide containers are used in Nebraska. This project gives producers a chance to recycle these containers.   Since 1992, about 1.75 million pounds of plastic from pesticide containes have been removed from Nebraska’s landscape and recycled.  This project is successful because of the excellent environmental stewardship that is exhibited by pesticide applicators, agri-chemical manufacturers and dealerships, trade organizations, the green industry and the structural pest control industry, all in cooperation with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension.

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