Agricultural Plastic Waste Mapping in Rice Farms: A Geospatial Analysis Approach

With major effects on ecosystems, human health, and sustainable farming practices, agricultural plastic waste has become a pressing global concern.By employing mapping techniques and geospatial analysis, this study will model the agricultural plastic waste in rice-farming areas within Remedios T. Romualdez, Agusan del Norte, Philippines.The study intends to help optimize waste management strategies by identifying waste hotspots and quantifying the volumes and types of plastic waste.To do this, this study utilized Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery and field survey data.Rice field maps were generated using Random Forest classifiers with high accuracy (Kappa coefficient: 0.92; overall accuracy: 97.15%).Findings of the study showed that fertilizer sacks and pesticide containers like bottles, sachets, and gallons are the predominant sources of plastic waste in the area, with Basilisa recording the highest waste generation rates.Geospatial analysis showed that 742.289 kg of plastic sacks per hectare (ha) per year (yr) is generated in the area, followed by plastic bottles with a total volume of 135.271 kg/ha/year, gallons (93.980 kg/ha/year), and plastic sachets (27.225 kg/ha/year).This study further proves that geoinformaticsbased identification of waste hotspots supports policy and community-based waste management strategies.