The first plant capable of recycling farm plastic in Ireland is being commissioned in Littleton, Co Tipperary.

“We’re just waiting on our permit to come through and they say it is imminent,” said Robert Murphy of AES, the waste management business of Bord na Móna.

Equipment has been delivered and engineering contractors will be “flat out over the next two to three weeks” to get it started, with an official opening expected mid-June, Murphy said.

The plant is due to create 40 jobs at Bord na Móna’s disused briquette factory. It will offer a new outlet for film plastic including silage wrap and pit covers, for which the collection season by Irish Farm Film Producers Group (IFFPG) is in full swing.

IFFPG had to increase its collection fees this year because of insufficient capacity to recycle film plastic in Europe following a Chinese ban on imports for this type of waste.

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