United Utilities is helping farmers and landowners dispose of illegal and out of date pesticides and poisons to prevent them being poured down the drain or onto land and potentially polluting waterways in Cheshire and North Wales.
It’s illegal to store or use unapproved or out of date pesticides but many farmers have stores of pesticides that they couldn’t use before they went out of date or their license expired. It’s difficult and costly for farmers to legally dispose of these chemicals so United Utilities is sponsoring several schemes to help farmers safely get rid of them.
The water company has joined forces with the Welsh Dee Trust and Dee Valley Water to offer landowners and land managers the ability to dispose of illegal pesticides safely, confidentially and free of charge. Similar schemes are also available to farmers in the River Dane and Llangollen Canal catchments.
A spokesperson for United Utilities said: “By helping to dispose of them now we’re ensuring these stocks can never be poured down drains and end up polluting our rivers and canals.
“Chemicals stored in containers where the label has become obscured, or where it’s been decanted into other containers, are also eligible for this scheme so farmers can get rid of that unknown bottle or jar of chemical lurking in the back of their store secure in the knowledge that it will be correctly and safely disposed of.
“I would encourage people to carefully and safely check sheds and outbuildings for old stocks of illegal substances and if they know, or suspect, they’re in possession of illegal pesticides to take up our offer so that together we can protect water sources and the environment across our region.”
Products acceptable for disposal include those with a MAPP, MAFF, PSPS or ACAS registration number. Generally this includes agricultural and horticultural products approved as herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, vertebrate control products and growth regulators. Unlabelled or unknown products are also accepted. Only farmers and landowners, whose land falls within the River Dee, River Dane and Llangollen Canal Drinking Water Catchments, are eligible for this free service.
To take up this offer please contact David Jones at david@welshdeetrust.com or Gareth Foulkes gareth@welshdeetrust.com
