Sustainable solutions and alternatives to halt the proliferation of plastic
We need to talk about plastics. Plastic products have become a convenient tool in many areas of life, and agriculture is no different. Plastics are used for everything from seedling trays and irrigation tubing to pesticide containers and livestock feed bags. However, their proliferation has led to mounting environmental problems that threaten soil health, water quality and human well-being.
In late 2021, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released a landmark report assessing the use of plastics in agriculture. The report calculated that, in 2019, agricultural value chains used 12.5 million tonnes of plastic products in plant and animal production and 37.3 million tonnes in food packaging.
“We estimated that crop production and livestock sectors together contributed 10 million tonnes, followed by fisheries and aquaculture with 2.1 million tonnes and forestry with 0.2 million tonnes,” said…
