PESTICIDE INDUSTRY RENEWS PUSH FOR EPA CONTAINER RECYCLING RULE

摘要

Pesticide manufacturers are turning up the heat in their years-long effort to push EPA to issue a rule requiring recycling of empty pesticide containers, a rule that a key pesticide industry trade association says is critical to save the group's collapsing voluntary program. CropLife America, which represents agricultural chemical producers, is urging EPA to commit to issue a final rule in time for the next agricultural growing season. The group's president, Jay Vroom, recently met with EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson to urge him to commit to issue the rule. The group is also conducting a study to present to EPA demonstrating the relative environmental benefits of pesticide container recycling. Without a viable national recycling system, a CropLife spokesman says, pesticide containers might have to be recycled at municipal plants that do not employ technicians who specialize in disposal of such hazardous waste. Containers might remain on farms for long periods of time, increasing the risks of pesticides leaching into groundwater, he says.