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2. W
hen spring arrives, down comes the overwintering film
from nursery greenhouses. This plastic material is often
relatively clean, especially when the bottom section in
the dirt splash zone is cut off and separated. Greenhouse film is
typically one consistent plastic type, low-density polyethylene
(LDPE), which is recyclable. An estimated 500 tons of overwinter-
ing film goes to landfills in NC each year. Some nurseries in NC
take this material to a recycler, (many within a 45-minute drive)
instead of the local landfill and make their green business green-
er. Here are some of the success stories that we have heard
about.
Hefner’s Nursery – Conover
Mark Gantt of Hefner’s Nursery was one of the earlier recyclers
of plastic greenhouse films in NC. The nursery has 25 greenhouses,
each with approximately 120-150 pounds of 4 mm overwintering
film. They use zip strips to secure the film to the house to avoid the
use of staples, which can be problematic to the plastic grinding
blades of recyclers. In Catawba County, they normally take down
their greenhouse overwintering film during the second or third
weeks of April. They remove the dirtiest part of the film, lay the
clean section of film on the ground, and roll it up. The rolls of film
are stored in a covered shed for a year just in case they have dam-
age to the next season’s film and need a section replaced. When
they know the film is no longer needed, they haul it to Commercial
Plastics Recycling just down the road in Newton. Hefner’s does not
get paid for the material, but does avoid landfill fees.
Cam Too Nursery, Greensboro
Tom LeJeune and Ray Watson of Cam Too Nursery in Greens-
boro have been recycling LDPE overwintering film for many years.
Each year they buy 200 rolls of overwintering film (4 mm), custom
cut by the manufacturer to the size of each cold frame at no addi-
tional cost, thus reducing their waste at source. It takes them about
a month to get the film off the houses; they roll it up and immedi-
ately put it onto one of their trucks. This spring they hauled 13,590
pounds of the film to Susan Newman of New Life Plastics, Burling-
ton, who works with Reily Recovery, Chapel Hill to recycle the film.
Tom says it gives him peace of mind to get the film off the nursery
(when it is still relatively clean) so it cannot be blown around and
make it more difficult to collect. Cam Too received enough revenue
to recover the costs of recycling the film and saved on landfill
charges, too.
Piedmont Carolina, Colfax
and Plantworks Nursery, Rougemont
Piedmont Carolina and Plantworks Nursery wanted to recycle
their overwintering film but the unseasonable, wet weather this past
spring made it challenging. Day after day it was cold and raining,
and they waited and waited for the right time to pull off the over-
wintering film. When the sun finally appeared, they had to get plants
delivered to customers, catch up on orders, and squeeze in time to
recycle the film. Waste Reduction Partners helped locate a recycler,
Verity Recycling, who dropped a trailer at Plantworks nursery, so
both nurseries could consolidate their film into one load. Verity Re-
cycling also advised the nurseries on how to compress and load
Agricultural Plastics Recycling
Part 2: Overwintering film
12 ! Nursery & Landscape Notes
The NCNLA has teamed up with NC Dept of Agriculture, Waste Reduction Partners and NC Division of Environmental Assistance
and Customer Service (DEACS) to explore opportunities for recycling agricultural plastics. This article is the second in a series,
sharing examples of successful agricultural plastics recycling pursuits in North Carolina and explaining some of the hurdles
of this evolving industry.
Zip Strip at Hefner’s Nursery

3. November-December, 2013 January, 2014 ! 13
the film onto the trailer. Phew! With the
material off to Verity, the nurseries saved
on landfill charges, and they could get on
with fulfilling their orders. These Nurseries
learned a lot about how to coordinate film
recycling during their busy spring sched-
ule. Next year they will get a trailer in place
ready for the film ahead of time, and get
good quality clean overwintering film to the
recycler.
Recyclers are now responding to
the growers recycling needs.
) Sonoco has a variety of recycling fa-
cilities across the state that will take
overwintering plastic, cut into sec-
tions, and secured on pallets.
) Recycling Management Resources
out of Raleigh and High Point recog-
See Agricultural Plastics Recyclings
– continued on page 15 Custom cut film at Cam Too Camellia Nursery

4. November-December, 2013 January, 2014 ! 15
nizes the needs of growers and may go on-site to understand
and respond to their clients’ needs.
) Susan Newman of New Life Plastics, Burlington work with
nurseries on ways to get your overwintering film recycled.
She says, “Don’t leave it too late to call me!”
) It is likely other recyclers near you will follow and adapt to
your needs, particularly if you have a truckload. Talk to them,
they are asking us for your business!
Benefits of Recycling
) Reduced disposal fees and in some cases potential additional
income.
) Diverting material from the landfill onto more productive pur-
poses – recycling creates far more jobs in the economy than
disposal.
) Customer appreciation for marketing a Green Product.
Start preparing to recycle your overwintering film
next year, right now!
The Challenge – Spring is your busiest time of year.
During spring you have no time to think about how to get your
film recycled. You need to get that film off quickly, dry and clean,
so that you can forget about it and get on with filling your orders.
This spring was wet and unpredictable. We do not know what next
spring will be like.
The Solution – Start thinking about it now! Don’t leave it too
late!
Recyclers want your clean dry overwintering film. Many recy-
clers will help you work out a solution, if you give them enough
time. They might ask you:
C How much film do you have?
C Do you have neighboring nurseries that could help you fill a
trailer?
C Do you need a trailer to put it in as you take the film down?
C Can you bale it?
C Can you secure it on a pallet?
C How can you get maximum weight of film on the trailer, to min-
imize haulage costs?
Invite a recycler to your nursery and they will help you work out
a solution.
Contact Waste Reduction Partners – they are talking with the re-
cyclers about your needs and want to help you find a recycling so-
lution for free.
Agricultural Plastics Recyclings – continued from page 13
See Agricultural Plastics Recyclings – continued on page 16

5. 16 ! Nursery & Landscape Notes
Agricultural Plastics Recyclings – continued from page 15
LET’S MAKE YOUR GREEN BUSINESS EVEN GREENER!
Potential recyclers that will take overwintering LDPE film are listed below.
Company Contact Phone E-Mail
AEI Plus
Belmont, NC Carol Konchinski 704-827-3828 ck@aeiplus.com
BPR Plastics,
Midlothian, VA Hoan Evans 804-739-9779 hoam@bprplastics.com
CHS Plastics,
Fort Mill, SC Chuck Stoudemire 843-858-1966 chuck@chsplasticsinc.com
Commercial Plastics Recycling,
Newton, NC Jordan Hendrix 828-858-1966 timb@cprinc.net
Engineered Plastics
Sanford, NC Kurt Duska 919-776-6850 kd@engineeredplastics.com
K & K Recycling
Wilson, NC Ken Radford 252-237-3010 kkrecycling@earthlink.net
Maine Plastics,
Apex, NC Curtis Tucker 919-387-3644 ctucker@maineplastics.com
New Life Plastics,
Burlington, NC Susan Newman 336-222-7775 snewman@newlifeplastics.com
North Georgia Textile Recyclers,
Summerville, GA Ryan Ledford 706-844-2366 r.ledford@ngtsrecycling.com
Pelican Plastics, Halifax, NC Pete Roy 252-467-2940 lproy@pelpack.com
Recycling Management Resources
Raleigh & High Point Mark Mitchum 704-608-1290 mmitchum@recyclingmr.com
Reily Recovery
Chapel Hill, NC Kevin Reily 919-933-3611 Kevin@reilyrecovery.com
Sonoco
9 locations in NC* Susan Albritton 843-861-2917 Susan.albritton@sonocorecycling.com
Universal Commodity Services Inc. Igor Beylin 704-690-9668 ibeylin@ucsincny.com
Verity Recycling
Asheboro, NC Marty Danco 336-465-4736 martindanco@aol.com
*Durham, Fayetteville, Gastonia, Greensboro, Hickory, Jacksonville, Raleigh, Salisbury, Winston Salem.
Please contact Waste Reduction Partners, for further assistance, or to provide your recycling story.
If your business location is East of I-77 contact Bev Fermor at bfermor@tjcog.org, or if you are
West of I-77, contact Jan Foster at jan.foster@hotmail.com).
Waste Reduction Partners www.wastereductionpartners.org also offer free energy assessments.
All photos provided by Waste Reduction Partners.