Pollinator Project busy at pesticide drop-off

The Pollinator Project has spearheaded the plan with support from the States of Guernsey, in a bid to safely dispose of garden poisons and chemicals.

Louise Gabriel from the project said they had been busy all day on Saturday at Longue Hougue, with about 250 individual items handed in.

‘It’s been flat out over the eight hours,’ she said.

The majority were domestic products, but most had been withdrawn from sale.

The most hazardous chemicals filled nine boxes.

‘We had some from growers, who had retired, so the chemicals were brought out from old packing sheds and greenhouses,’ she said.

The team wore gloves and masks to deal with the goods, some of which were unlabelled and were likely to be from a time when chemical use on crops was not so strictly regulated.

There were also some chemicals that are now illegal, such as DDT – an insecticide, which causes severe and prolonged environmental impacts and has been banned in the UK since 1986.

Ms Gabriel said it was good that people had brought the chemicals along to be properly disposed of. The most hazardous items would now be sent to the UK for specialist disposal.

There were also two-and-a-half one-tonne boxes of household goods.

‘There was a lot of glyphosate [a herbicide found in products such as Roundup] and also ant killer and rat poison,’ Ms Gabriel said.

‘Some of it is still very toxic.’

These items will go into Mont Cuet.

Their position in the landfill site will be chosen with care to reduce the amount that will leak into the surrounding environment.

Guernsey’s drinking water is collected from surface water runoff, such as streams, and Guernsey Water was very supportive of the pesticide drop-off.

States waste prevention and recycling officer Tina Norman-Ross said the drop-off has been in the planning stages for two years and she welcomed people disposing of these good responsibly.

She added that anyone with commercial, bulk or unmarked goods could always contact the States hazardous waste officer by emailing hazardouswaste.gov.gg or calling 226263 to arrange to for them to be disposed of.

This incurs a charge. But domestic users can usually dispose of the goods for free.

They can also contact the States hazardous waste officer for advice.

A second drop-off was held yesterday and Ms Gabriel said they hoped to organise another one in the future, having seen how high the demand was.