There will be a major clamp down on valid six-digit batch numbers when farmers are returning farm plastic this year.

Farmers will be charged double to recycle their silage plastic if they don’t have their batch number or proof of purchase.

This move is to cut out the illegal trading of unlevied plastic, according to the Irish Farm Film Producers Group (IFFPG).

“Ever since our scheme was set up in the late 1990s, there has always been an illegal farm plastics trade.

“Some retailers put product on the market without charging the recycling levy. To comply with the law, plastic that’s put on the Irish market must have the levy on it.

“The vast majority of retailers sell product with the levy but there are some unscrupulous merchants and silage contractors who don’t,” Liam Moloney general manager of IFFPG told the Irish Farmers Journal.

The price to return plastic has increased on last year from €50 to €60 per half tonne.

Those who don’t have valid batch numbers will be charged €120 per half tonne from now on.

Bring centres, where farmers can drop off plastic, will be starting from early May until the end of September.