Netafim Irrigation, Inc. received a total of $2,011,647 from California Climate Investment through the Recycled Fiber, Plastic, and Glass Grant Program. This money supports its operations as a closed‑loop recycling solution for used irrigation tubing that serves commercial farming operations in the Central Coast region of California. Netafim’s grant is expanding an established and successful recycling operation. As a result of this expansion in Netafim’s operations, the project is estimated to divert 83,059 tons of material from landfills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 66,447 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
This competitive grant program aims to lower overall greenhouse gas emissions by expanding existing capacity or establishing new facilities in California that use California‑generated recycled fiber (old corrugated cardboard, paperboard, or textiles), plastic, or glass to manufacture new products.
Netafim collects used irrigation tubing and transports it to their recycling facility in Fowler. At the recycling facility, the irrigation tubing is shredded, washed, and pelletized before being transported to Netafim’s manufacturing facility in Fresno. At the manufacturing facility, the recycled pellets are blended with other resins and compressed into new irrigation tubing. Once this recycled‑content irrigation tubing reaches end of life, it will be collected by Netafim and recycled once again.
Danielle McShance, Chief Financial Officer of Merrill Farms in Salinas Valley, is very appreciative of the Netafim products: “This technology enables us to significantly reduce the amount of water and fertilizer we use versus conventional overhead sprinkler technology. This method also significantly reduces our energy consumption. Recycling the used tubing at the end of product life, however, is also a priority for our company. Netafim’s recycling program not only enables us to do that and avoid sending it to the landfill, but their utilization of the recycled tubing into new drip tubing allows our operation to participate in a complete closed‑loop system.”
Netafim has also been hiring, and plans to continue to hire, employees from disadvantaged and low‑income communities and to educate the local community about the project and opportunities for growth. The grant term will run through April 1, 2022.