Tama Assist Green Future For Crop Baling
Green washing is easy to do and costs little: FACT. Actually making an environmental difference, creating new, innovative product solutions is complex, time consuming and expensive. Also a FACT and the main reason many agri-manufacturers shy away from such an undertaking. Read how Tama, the worlds leading manufacturer of crop baling products are standing up and leading the industry in developing new sustainable products, combining high product performance with responsible end of life management.
Despite our many global disagreements, the one thing we can all agree on is that our planet is the most important resource for sustaining life in our universe, which is why we are seeing an ever increasing trend for products that are ‘sustainable’, ‘eco friendly’, ‘green’ and ‘environmentally friendly’ to name just a few.
But despite all the trends and buzz words how do we, as agri-manufacturers, ensure we are doing our bit and actually making a difference? How do we make sure we are actually doing something worthwhile and not simply ‘green washing’, but offering products that are great for the planet, our customers and for the generations to come?
This is a question that we at Tama have challenged ourselves with for a number of years now, and no doubt, will continue to do so for many years to come. As farmers ourselves we feel it is our responsibility to adopt an environmental strategy that looks after our farming environment and helps lead our industry into a more sustainable future.
Our most recent challenge has been both simple and difficult. Whichever way you look at it, our products are manufactured with one of the current environmental ‘demons’, plastic. A material for which is there is currently no suitable alternative that can be easily replaced on a global scale. Which is why our recent efforts have seen us focus on manufacturing longer, lighter, and stronger crop baling products; rolling out a number of product innovations in recent years that have heavily influenced the direction of product development across the industry.
But this is simply the beginning, the first step in our eco-baling revolution.
What the distant future holds for the baling industry is currently unknown, but we hope it is one with fully bio-degradable products safe for humans, animals and the planet. But without significant investment today and for the foreseeable future, the required product developments and innovations to achieve a fully sustainable baling future will simply not happen.
This is why, for the time being at least, we have embraced plastic as a global manufacturing necessity but with one simple mantra in mind “use less and use it more often”.
We’ve already pioneered the development of longer, lighter and stronger crop baling products but our latest developments have seen us take this to the next step, investing heavily in recycling technologies, keeping agricultural plastics on the farm, and out of landfill. Using the knowledge gained to create a range of products known as TamaCycle, that incorporate recycled raw agri-material but with no loss in performance or, the quality Tama products are known for across the globe.
Of course, we could manufacture products made from used bottles or bags etc, but our customer commitment is to do everything we can to ensure there is no agricultural plastic waste in our product lifecycle. It’s not the easy route, but it is the right route for our industry, creating a closed loop manufacturing process.
By partnering with National Collection schemes across Europe as well as the Healix recycling facility in Maastricht, we’ve already been the first to bring to market a TamaCycle twine made from 30% (used) twine; a percentage we are already working to improve.
And we are not just restricting our developments to a limited selection of branded ‘green’ products, ALL our products are being designed with an eye on the future. An example being our latest twine innovation, IMPAX; a smaller diameter twine, designed to withstand the highest pressure, reducing bale failure rates but also bringing a reduction of up to 20% less plastic per bale as well as being 100% recyclable.
Of course, twine is relatively easy to recycle, we’re fully open about the core crop baling challenge for recycling, netwrap. Our research, along with Healix into a fully recyclable netwrap has shown there is plenty more work to be done in this area
predominantly due to the difficulty in cleaning the used net. It is for this reason we developed EZ Web, a completely new type of baling product that is significantly easier to clean and recycle than netwrap; ensuring we keep the raw material within the manufacturing loop: an important goal in changing the perception of plastic into a ‘multi use’ material, not to be discarded but continually recycled.
EZ Web addresses two major factors in round baling, with an eco-conscious reduction in plastic to bind the bale, while maintaining optimal output. The ability to dispose of the product together with wrapping film on silage, or by itself on
dry crop bales, makes on-farm waste-plastic management easier, quicker and more cost effective. Used in the same way as Netwrap or NRF, EZ Web has the same strong bale-binding qualities to maintain bale density and shape and is suitable for use on all makes and models of round baler.
Our environmental strategy is committed to change, we will continue to innovate and find (or create) new technologies that develop our industry and step away from our global dependence on single use plastics.
It is a long road, but we are confident that we can make a difference, as evidenced by Tama’s European Commercial Director, Matthieu Defois’ recent statement in a press interview for EZ Web: “It has been many years since we have seen any significant developments in crop baling products, particularly those that focus on environmental considerations. Everyone working in the crop baling industry needs to take accountability for ensuring single use plastics quickly become a thing of the past; we have a responsibility to create a more sustainable future for our farmers and our children.
EZ Web isn’t a net, or even a stretchfilm, it’s a completely new revolution in the crop baling world that answers the demand from farmers for a product that is easily recyclable, easy to clean and easy to remove. It’s the first step of many into a more sustainable farming future.”
Whatever the future holds for the crop baling industry, at Tama, we are heavily invested into being a key part of it; creating new products and investing in new technologies and recycling schemes are an exciting beginning to what we hope will be a beneficial journey for all.
