HOULTON — Aroostook County farmers, in cooperation with soil conservation districts and distributors of agricultural chemicals, are breaking new ground with regards to recycling in Maine.

Maine is one of 19 states where farmers are involved in a program to recycle non-restricted pesticide containers. Aroostook County is the only county in Maine involved in the pilot project.

According to Donald Collins, district conservationist for the U.S. Soil Conservation Service in Houlton, the recycling program evolved from discussions last spring between Nutrite Corp., Maine potato growers, and county soil and water conservation districts.

Under the program, farmers use high-pressure nozzles supplied free by the chemical dealers to rinse pesticide containers. Rinsings are deposited directly into the farmers’ spray tanks at the site of the spray operation. Some of the chemicals cost as much as $500 a gallon.

After the containers are rinsed, they are stored until they are taken to one of four drop-off sites — the MPG liquid fertilizer plant in Presque Isle, the Nutrite building in Houlton, the Tri-Community Landfill in Fort Fairfield, or the Northern Aroostook Regional Incinerator in Frenchville.

Containers are inspected when they are dropped off, Collins said. Any that are not rinsed adequately are returned to the farmers for additional rinsing.

According to Gary Pangburn, executive director of the Central Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District, the containers are taken to Presque Isle where they are granulated into chips no larger than a quarter inch in size. The chips are transported to Envirocycle Inc. in Missouri, where they are melted down and reprocessed into pellets.

The pellets are sold to Du Pont Corp., which uses the recycled plastic pellets in the manufacture of new pesticide containers.

He said about 25 percent of the plastic now used to manufacture the containers is recycled. He said Du Pont hopes to be able to increase that percentage as participation in the program increases.

“It’s really been quite successful,” Collins said. “We expected it would take a couple of years to catch on. It’s far exceeded anybody’s expectations. We’re absolutely amazed.

“This program allows farmers to demonstrate that they do care about the environment and are willing to make use of new approaches and innovations.”

Michael Fitzpatrick, who operates Borderside Farm in Houlton, is one of the farmers participating in the program. “It’s a great idea,” he said. “It’s an alternative to the dump, which I don’t think is the answer. We’re just not going to throw away our waste — a real serious waste — in a public landfill.”

Collins said that enough containers had been collected during each of the first two pickups to almost fill a 20-foot truck. He said he expected to see that increase to the point that one or two trailer trucks would be needed.

If there is enough participation, Du Pont Corp. has agreed to donate a portable granulating machine for use in the County.