Farms, Funders, Recyclers Unite to Tackle Plastic Waste Crisis

Enevi partners with farms and funders to recycle contaminated plastics into reusable materials

28 Apr 2025

In the fields of Santa Maria, California, a new kind of harvest is taking shape, not of crops but of plastic.

This spring, recycling startup Enevi teamed up with The Recycling Partnership to launch a pilot program that takes dirty agricultural plastics and gives them a second life. Instead of ending up in landfills or burned, silage covers and greenhouse wraps are now being transformed into mulch film, irrigation tubing, and even plastic benches.

This technology is only part of the story, the project works because of collaboration. Farms provide access to plastic waste, Enevi brings the recycling system, and funding from The Recycling Partnership's Film & Flexibles Recycling Coalition fuels research and expansion. Together, the players are testing whether agriculture's most stubborn waste stream can be turned into a resource.

"This isn't just a tech demonstration; it's a new model for cooperative innovation," said Enevi's founder. Alongside the processing, the pilot collects detailed data on recycling rates and material quality, information that could shape future industry standards and policy.

The timing may be critical. With states moving toward extended producer responsibility laws, industry watchers say this kind of partnership shows what is possible when regulation meets real-world solutions. If Enevi's system proves scalable, it could be a template for farm regions across the country.

Challenges remain. Collecting and transporting bulky plastic is costly, and the material arrives in wildly different conditions. Yet early results are promising. Despite the grime, the recycled pellets are holding up well in manufacturing tests.

For now, the experiment in Santa Maria is small. But if it succeeds, it could offer a rare win-win: farmers solving a waste headache, recyclers finding new markets, and funders backing a circular economy that grows from the ground up.