DrumMuster reaches 300,000th container collected in Balonne

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Published
7th August 2020

Robert Spackman of G & S Price Farming, St George, being congratulated by Balonne Shire Council Officers Lachlan Grundon and Lindon Langton on the delivery of the 300,000 th drum into the Springwell Rd Drummuster compound.

A milestone was celebrated at the Springwell Road collection compound in St George today with the Balonne Shire Council collecting and recycling its 300,000 agricultural and veterinary (agvet) container under the product stewardship container recycling program drumMUSTER.

Farmers and growers in the region have been supporting the drumMUSTER program since March 2000 where, on the first collection, an impressive 10,000 drums were delivered by local farmers.

Mayor Samantha O’Toole said it was a testament to the agchem users and farmers in the Shire and their commitment to sustainable farming practices that the milestone had been reached.

“Everyone connected with the drumMUSTER program as well as local farmers, agents and the Balonne Shire Council should be congratulated for their continuing support of this program,” Cr O’Toole said.

“Collecting these containers has enabled everyone concerned to divert such material from being either taken to landfill, burnt or buried.

“Importantly, everyone in the community benefits from the collection of these containers – farmers no longer have a large number on their properties and community groups can claim reimbursement for each container collected.’’

The drums are not only being delivered to collection sites such as the Springwell Road Compound. Almost 50,000 drums have been collected from farms by the processors which recycle the triple rinsed containers.

Cr O’Toole said there were many people who had made the drumMUSTER program a success in the Balonne Shire. - from community groups who hold the collections; people such as Douglas Crothers and Ron Cooke at Dirranbandi, to the drum inspectors of today such as Lachlan Grundon, Kevin Fontaine, Lindon Langdon and William Taylor.

“There are so many people that have been instrumental in the success of the program. Certainly, too many to name them all,” Cr O’Toole said.

Queensland Regional Consultant for drumMUSTER Colin Hoey said reaching the milestone was significant for all the members of the Balonne Shire who had played a part.

“Congratulations to all involved in the drumMUSTER program in the region. Getting to 300,000 recycled drums is a fantastic achievement of which the local community should be very proud.
Remember, (the collection) of every container counts,” Mr Hoey said.