Australia’s first industry-led collection and recycling program bagMUSTER®, starts rounding up agriculture's soft plastic bags

L-R: Alicia Garden, General Manager - Agsafe, Matthew Cossey, CEO - CropLife Australia, Katherine Delbridge, CEO - Australian Seed Federation, and Tim March, President - ASF board

Canberra, 06 March 2025: Australia’s first industry-led collection and recycling program for soft plastic agricultural input bags has officially launched today in Ballarat. Collection sites are now opening across Victoria as Phase 1 of a national roll-out. bagMUSTER® is a new initiative of CropLife Australia in partnership with the Australian Seed Federation. The program will be delivered and managed by CropLife’s wholly owned not-for-profit stewardship services provider, Agsafe, providing farmers with a free collection and recycling solution for plastic pesticide, seed, and other agricultural product bags.

“At full scale bagMUSTER will divert up to 45,000 tonnes of single-use soft plastic from landfill seach year. This is a significant milestone for the agriculture industry and for national circular economy targets and a further demonstration of CropLife Australia’s members commitment to world leading stewardship,” said Mr Matthew Cossey, Chief Executive Officer of CropLife Australia, the national peak industry organisation for the plant science sector.

“Plastic bags have become an indispensable part of agriculture, keeping farm inputs like chemicals and seeds safe and ready to use. This new program will further assist the nation’s farming sector to be world leaders in sustainability, the circular economy and maintain clean farms,” added Mr Cossey.

“Today bagMUSTER enters Phase 1 of its national rollout, beginning in rural Victoria,” said Alicia Garden, General Manager of Agsafe.

“We’ve taken the best of drumMUSTER® and are elevating the existing infrastructure and relationships we’ve developed over 25 years of delivering CropLife’s existing stewardship programs.

“As the program rolls out nationally over the coming years, bagMUSTER has the potential to provide farmers and growers with hundreds of accessible collection points throughout regional and rural Australia. This will ensure that bags, no matter where they are, don’t further burden our landfills, waterways and ecosystems.

“Instead, what was once a waste stream, will be processed to manufacture new products right here in Australia with Australian companies, reducing the amount of virgin plastic in circulation,” said Ms Garden.

“The great power of bagMUSTER is that it has been created by industry, for industry. It’s another example of Australian agriculture taking the lead, investing significant resources and driving meaningful change. But we cannot do it alone,” said Mr Cossey.

Matthew Cossey, CEO - CropLife Australia

Alicia Garden, General Manager - Agsafe

Our strategic partnership with the Australia Seed Federation and utilisation of Agsafe’s three decades of experience and success has developed a fit-for-purpose industry-funded model enabled through collaboration with agriculture retail stores, bag suppliers, brand owners, farming associations and local governments. It is the strength of these partnerships that will make bagMUSTER a success.

“However, specific credit must go to CropLife members who have provided a significant mobilisation of resources to make this program a reality, demonstrating genuine thought leadership in this space.

“While all the start-up funding to date has been provided by CropLife Australia and Agsafe, what we would like to see next is a genuine funding commitment from state and federal governments to get behind the first national program of its kind so that national rollout can be fast tracked and deliver even greater environmental and recycling benefits. Targeted Government investment would help address the logistical challenges of reach in rural communities, it would accelerate the pace and scope of the rollout and support the Government’s commitment to a circular economy by 2030,” concluded Mr Cossey.

“The Australian Seed Federation and its members are deeply committed to making a positive environmental impact. We know farmers and growers want to increase the ability to dispose of these plastic bags in an environmentally friendly and safe manner, but it takes genuine collaboration with rural communities and governments to make these programs accessible,” said Katherine Delbridge, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Seed Federation.

“Now is the time for the industry to get behind bagMUSTER. Seed and input companies, bag importers, farmers, and rural supply stores all have a role to play. bagMUSTER needs the support of the whole industry to ensure the best possible program is delivered nationwide.

“It’s time to bundle up your bags, bring them in, and spread the word—we look forward to making this work, together,” concluded Ms Delbridge.

bagMUSTER is part of CropLife’s StewardshipFirst® suite of industry-led product stewardship initiatives.

Farmers in Western Victoria can now participate in bagMUSTER by visiting participating retailers, purchasing eligible bags, and dropping them off at designated collection sites. For those outside the initial program area the follow-on phases will see expansion nationally over the next few years.

To learn more about bagMUSTER, find collection sites, or explore participating retailers, visit the bagMUSTER website.

See a video of bagMUSTER in action here.

Access full image library from the launch here.