A farmer from Yorkton is facing a court case in the amount of over $365 million while attempting to recycle agricultural plastics such as grain bags.
Dallon Leger is a part of EcoGenX Agriculture Recycling Ltd., who recycles grain bags, and they are currently facing a large fine in a court case on March 15th, 2023 at the Yorkton Court House.
The Saskatchewan Government enacted the Agricultural Packaging Product Waste Stewardship Regulation which dictates and controls how grain bags are recycled in 2018; the year after EcoGenX was in operation. The regulation states that you must be approved by the Saskatchewan Government, and if you’re not approved, you must abide by the regulation and participate in another approved program.
Dallon attempted to lobby the government to get approval, but was shut out of talks to become an approved operator.
Now, the young plastic recycling operator has closed his business as per the government’s requirements.
Background
Leger clarified that on March 2nd, 2022 two conservation officers showed up on his property to enforce an Environmental Act. “They named me non-compliant for 365 days. I was charged for the full year prior”, he said.
Dallon is facing $365 million and 3 years in jail while attempting to help the environment. 4 million pounds of plastic was recycled by the EcoGenX crew prior to halting operations.
“I was informed that if I continued to operate the way I was, I would be fined $1,000,000 per day. I tucked my tail and said I’ve made my stand. My business was shut down. I’m trying to fight the legal fight as well as survive personally.”
Dallon is frustrated as he’s trying to help fight climate change and is “doing exactly what federal and provincial governments are preaching right now, but yet, I am eating Kraft Dinner as I’m trying to find a lawyer; it doesn’t make sense.”
“I can’t afford these fines. They are intimidation tactics to get me to comply with the program. I held my ground.”
Leger has a GiveSendGo fundraising page for those interested in supporting him.
March 15, 2023 is the official court date in Yorkton, SK at the provincial court house. https://www.givesendgo.com/Dallonleger
Leger has asked Brendan Myers Miller, lead lawyer for the Freedom Convoy at the recent Emergencies Act hearings, to represent him if the retainer fee can be met by the trial date.
When asked about the court date, location and who the official plaintiff is, the Government of Saskatchewan mentioned they are “unable to comment on this case at this time. This matter is an active compliance case and currently before the court”.
Saskatchewan government press releases often praise job growth and made-in-Saskatchewan solutions.
Meanwhile, Cleanfarms, a non-profit organization based out of Ontario is named the only approved program ag plastic operator in Saskatchewan.
Leger opened his business to assist the recycling process for farmers. and became competitive with the Ontario company. A year later, a policy was developed which seemingly caused a monopoly on the ag plastic recycling industry in our province.
The EcoGenX operator stated, “There is no contract [between Cleanfarms and the provincial government]; it is an Act which is granted to them until the legislation changes. In my opinion, the government has created a monopoly. They don’t give an exemption.”
Dallon is originally from Ontario. He moved out here when he was 19 and bought a house in Canora. In 2021, he bought 40 acres of land south of Yorkton which would help as a distribution centre for the recycling product.
Leger started in 2017 as a sole-proprietor and then incorporated in 2018 as he began to work with Saskatchewan PolyTech and the University of Saskatchewan; to receive grants you had to be incorporated. EcoGenX operated until 2022. The company was selling under approved Saskatchewan retailers and was therefore complying with regulations. It wasn’t until Leger started importing bags that the charges were then able to be enforced as he was declared non-compliant.
Leger attempted to work with the provincial government. “Under the legislation [The Agricultural Packaging Product Waste Stewardship Program], it states that exemptions can be granted by the Minister of Environment. I was up against a wall but I figured I’d be able to work with my local government to gain an exemption. From 2018-2022, not one meeting was had with an MLA or a Minister; it was basically a wall as they said they only wanted compliance and were not interested in two operators.”
Dallon nearly had a meeting with The Minister of Environment and was asked to make a presentation. The presentation had to be reviewed before they could grant a meeting. “I ended up getting a meeting with the Enforcement Division of the Ministry of Environment, as well as Cleanfarms, but it was strictly on compliance.”
Cleanfarms had a representative acknowledging their interests at the meeting.
Dallon met with representatives from Cleanfarms previously and hoped for synergy. “If the goal is to prevent plastic from being burned, buried or blowing around, our companies thought similarly. Cleanfarms did not want to work as a partner and instead were hoping we would do the work and supply them with the product.”
“Cleanfarms is a sister-organization of Crop Life Canada, which is the lobby organization for farmers based in Ottawa. They began lobbying our government back in 2015, a direct dialogue between Cleanfarms and our provincial government; this regulation was crafted going back-and-forth between the two.”
“When you go back to when this regulation came into effect, Scott Moe was the MLA at the time that was lobbied to bring this Cleanfarms program into effect. I can’t help but wonder if that’s why the silence is there.”
Leger also added that former Minister Ted Menzies was the “top dog” at Crop Life Canada when they started lobbying for this program. “As a Minster, you’re supposed to have a 5 year ban before going into lobbying positions. He was looked into for conflict of interest.”
The Recycling Process
Leger said, “EcoGenX Agriculture Recycling Limited is intended to provide convenient low-cost recycling solutions to farmers in the prairies. We were initially focused on grain bags as they are the bulkiest, heaviest, and easiest plastic to recycle and then focusing on your net wrap, silage wrap, bale twine, basically any plastic that’s used on the farm.”
“We went right across Saskatchewan, we picked up bags from Alberta and Manitoba as well. The problem was that we charge per mile and the further we go, the more it costs the farmer.”
“If the farmer had a grain bag roller, they could roll them and we would pick up a rolled bag on the farm which would save them money, as they did some of the work getting the bag ready for recycling. If they didn’t have the equipment, we would show up with a skid steer and a bag roller, and do all the work. Essentially, the farmer didn’t have to do anything but give us their location and land locations of where the bags are.”
Meanwhile, Cleanfarms requires the farmers to roll their bags and haul them to their company’s locations.
The EcoGenX recycled plastic would be taken to Arkansas to be remade into other useful materials.
Dallon stated, “We have an agreement with Revolution Plastics, a state-of-the-art plastic recycling facility in Arkansas, USA and they recycle upwards of 200 million pounds of ag plastic every year. They are the leader of this industry. All the plastic I collect goes there. They spent $200 million to buy the equipment to turn the grain bags back into new grain bags; it is closed-loop recycling. I would be the dealer to distribute that product here.”
Right now, the majority of the ag recycling goes back into making garbage bags or irrigation tubing, but the Arkansas company is working its way into closed-loop recycling such as grain bags and silage tarps, etc.
Many farmers can only find a Cleanfarms recycling site hours away, versus EcoGenX which would come to their farm to collect the product.
Dallon hopes to develop a 50,000 sq ft of indoor storage space and he has 32 acres of land to use as a warehouse space. His plan was to use an independent recycling facility and no longer need the Arkansas company. It would cost $1,000,000 a year to create a facility that would shred, wash and pellet-ize the grain bags. The size of the equipment would recycle 8 million pounds a year, which is equivalent to all of the Saskatchewan grain bags used yearly.
“A million dollars a year is paid to a non-profit instead of setting up value for farmers, as we would eventually begin to pay farmers for their waste product, ensuring we recycle it all,” stated Leger.
“SaskPolytech received a $1.56 million dollar grant in 2018 to set up a state-of-the-art plastics facility for prototyping and testing; all that equipment is sitting here and not being utilized because the provincial government is halting me. There is a heck of a business opportunity and why are we not doing that, instead we are farming this out to non-profits in Ontario.”
“There is no need for the government to only be contracting this out to an out-of-province competition. If the end-goal is to recover all this plastic, then allowing competition helps this happen. With Cleanfarms, there is no accountability. The farmer pays a fee and it’s all on them to get the bag to the site. At the end of the day, it’s still cheaper to burn or bury that bag than it is to transport it to a Cleanfarms site.”
Government Response
Speaking about Cleanfarms and the recycling program, the Government of Saskatchewan mentioned, “The Agricultural Plastics Recycling Program was created under the authority of The Agricultural Packaging Products Waste Stewardship Regulations, which were proclaimed on July 28, 2016. These regulations provide the legal basis to require first sellers of grain bags to establish a provincial recycling program for agricultural plastic grain bags, very similar to other successful recycling programs in Saskatchewan.”
“Like other industry-led stewardship programs, the Agricultural Plastics Recycling Program is not a government-contracted program but must meet requirements defined in the regulations and be approved by the Minister.”
“Cleanfarms, who were selected by and represent the regulated first sellers of grain bags, was the only organization that formally applied to the government to operate an agricultural plastics recycling program under the regulations. They received approval of their product stewardship program from the Minister of Environment on January 25, 2018.”
“Cleanfarms maintains an accessible province-wide collection network and has a local program coordinator based in Saskatchewan. The company also successfully operates programs, both regulated and voluntary, for a variety of other agricultural waste in jurisdictions across the country. As with other industry-led recycling programs, the Agricultural Plastics Recycling Program is funded with an environmental handling fee.”
“Government does not facilitate or dictate operations or end markets for Cleanfarms to utilize; the program is left to the program operators to run an efficient and effective program according to their approved product stewardship program. Cleanfarms contracts with service providers to operate collection sites as well as transportation services.”
When asked about the preference for an Ontario non-profit as the sole company able to recycle ag plastics in Saskatchewan, the government responded, “The Ministry of Environment is committed to ensure a fair and level playing field for all first sellers of grain bags in the province. If someone sells a grain bag in the province, they must join the approved program operated by Cleanfarms, or submit to the government a program plan that meets all requirements of the regulations for consideration.”
Cleanfarms was asked to provide a statement regarding the topic, but did not respond prior to this article’s publication.
The Government of Saskatchewan clarified, “No fine amount has yet been determined in this case, as the matter is still before the court. In the event Mr. Leger is found guilty, the sentence, including any potential fine amount, would be determined by the judge based on submissions from the Crown and the accused. Sentencing is an individualized process that takes into account the specific circumstances of each case and each accused person. The next court appearance for this case is in Yorkton Provincial Court on Monday, February 27.”
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