Following a successful pilot project run by West Wales Rivers Trust in 2024, Afonydd Cymru were involved in launching a new, collaborative scheme in July 2025 to reduce agricultural plastic pollution in Welsh rivers.
Together with Natural Resources Wales’s Four Rivers for LIFE team, Agricultural Plastics Environment (APE) and Birch Farm Plastics, the initiative’s objective was to enable an extra 200 tonnes of farm plastic to be recycled by the end of 2025, much of which could have otherwise ended up in a river.
Following the success of the project, Natural Resources Wales announced that it was being extended to December 2026.
Agricultural plastic is not a new issue for Welsh rivers.
In 2004/5, analysis from river clear ups by the Wye & Usk Foundation found that up to 76% of the litter it collected was of agricultural origin, usually in the form of silage wrap, feed bags/buckets and baler twine.
Wildlife can be harmed if it becomes entangled in silage plastic waste. It can also accumulate to create barriers to fish passage, increase flood risk and, of course, break down into microplastics, either in the river or when washed out to sea.
In 2023 WRAP reported that the UK’s agri-plastic recycling rate was between 20-30%.
Other European countries such as Germany, France and Ireland have recycling rates of 65%, 80% and 90% respectively.
And a survey of 100 farms by West Wales Rivers Trust in 2024 showed that cost was a main reason preventing silage plastic waste being recycled.
This project will enable farmers and landowners to recycle their farm plastic at reduced cost at several centres across four river catchments: Teifi, Tywi, Cleddau and Usk.
If successful, the project could be extended to other river catchments across Wales.