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(Micro‑)Plastics in Horticulture: GKL Workshop on Circular Economy of Plastics in Agriculture and Horticulture
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A German workshop on plastics in agriculture presented data showing that the use of plastic mulch films, fleeces, and hail nets in fruit and vegetable cultivation introduces approximately 817 tonnes of microplastics annually via compost application across 200,000 hectares of horticultural land. The findings highlight the circular economy of plastics in food production as a significant but underappreciated source of soil microplastic contamination.
The GKL September 2019 workshop on circular economy of plastics in agriculture presented data on the current use of mulch films, fleeces, foils and hail nets on ca. 16,000 ha of fruit cultivation and 40,000 ha of vegetables in Germany with the following breakdown1) This is equivalent to 22% of the fruit and 29% of the vegetable acreage in Germany.2) The annual compost usage of 4.07 mil tons in agriculture and horticulture in Germany includes 817 t micro plastic.3) Based on a 14% share, this is equivalent to ca. 61 t microplastics per year for the 200,000 ha of fruit, nursery and vegetables grown in Germany.4) The un-informed consumer carries a heavy burden, as the plastic in municipal compost largely originates from his disposed (black) plastic flower pots and carrier shopping bags used to collect organic household bio-waste.5) A voluntary plastic collection system called ‘ERDE’ was set up in Germany by European Plastic manufacturers to collect any plastic waste from agriculture and horticulture for recycling into granules, thereby avoiding plastic waste in the countryside or sea.Detailed values of plastic degradation in agriculture and horticulture into microplastics await ongoing studies.
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