In May 2008, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations published Guidelines on Management Options for Empty Pesticide Containers. These guidelines establish the FAO ideals for empty pesticide container management and provide instructions for emptying and rinsing smaller containers that can be held in hands and larger containers too heavy to be held in hands (drums).
In 2008, The Pesticide Stewardship Alliance (TPSA) recognized the contribution of the FAO Container Management Guidelines toward pesticide container stewardship. This project was funded to: (1) better implement the Guidelines; and (2) address, if possible, situations where even the most basic resources for pesticide management and communications were stressed or lacking, and yet dramatically improve the acquisition and retention of fundamental pesticide stewardship principles.
This project provides a flexible collection of tools for training pesticide users on pesticide container residue removal and basic stewardship, using the FAO container cleaning instructions and a series of images. These tools cover triple rinsing small and large containers and pressure rinsing small and large containers. TPSA’s web site has been updated with these training materials in three formats: Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint, as well as a guidance document for educators and a poster.
