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20 resultsShowing papers similar to Advances in the Sustainable Use of Plastics in Horticulture—Perspectives, Innovations, Opportunities, and Limitations
ClearPlastic Use in Agriculture: Balancing Benefits, Environmental Impacts, and Sustainable Solutions
This review examines the benefits and environmental risks of plasticulture, covering how plastic mulches, greenhouse covers, and irrigation systems boost yields while generating microplastic soil contamination, and proposing sustainable alternatives and policy frameworks.
Towards a Sustainable Future: Advancing an Integrated Approach for the Recycling and Valorization of Agricultural Plastics
This review surveys current methods for recycling and valorizing agricultural plastics—films, mulches, and greenhouse covers—highlighting that inadequate end-of-life management leads to soil and water contamination and eventual microplastic formation. A more integrated, circular approach to agricultural plastic design and disposal is needed to prevent these materials from fragmenting into persistent environmental pollutants.
Agricultural plastics and environmental sustainability: Assessment and remediation strategies
This review examines the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of agricultural plastics including mulch films, irrigation pipes, and greenhouse covers, and evaluates management strategies such as recycling, composting, biodegradable alternatives, and circular economy models for reducing microplastic accumulation.
Improvement of crop and soil management practices through mulching for enhancement of soil fertility and environmental sustainability: A review
This review examined mulching practices in agriculture as a strategy for improving soil fertility, water retention, and crop yields, while also noting that plastic mulch films generate persistent microplastic contamination in agricultural soils. The authors discussed biodegradable mulch alternatives and best management practices for reducing plastic residues.
Microplastics in Agriculture- a Review
This review examines the growing presence of microplastics in agricultural environments, covering their sources from plastic mulch films and irrigation water, their effects on soil health and crop quality, and the implications for food safety and sustainable agriculture.
On the quest for novel bio-degradable plastics for agricultural field mulching
This review examined the challenge of developing biodegradable plastic mulch materials suitable for agricultural use, noting that plasticulture consumes about 6.7 million tons of plastic annually, most of which cannot be practically recycled. The authors assessed candidate biodegradable polymers based on their degradation rates in soil, mechanical performance, and cost.
Environmental health implications of plastic use in agriculture
This review discusses the environmental health implications of plastic use in agriculture, including soil microplastic accumulation from mulch films, microplastic uptake by crops, and potential entry into the food chain. The authors recommend shifting toward biodegradable alternatives and tightening regulations on agricultural plastic disposal.
From plastic mulching to microplastic pollution : An effect assessment of microplastics in the soil-plant system
This review assessed how plastic mulching films contribute to agricultural microplastic pollution, finding that biodegradable alternatives rarely fully degrade under field conditions and instead fragment into microplastics, with both LDPE and biodegradable microplastics producing measurable ecological effects in soil-plant systems.
Application of novel sustainable bio-plastic materials in horticultural production
This review covers the application of biodegradable bioplastics in horticultural production — from nursery pots and mulch films to packaging — summarizing advances in biopolymer formulation, field performance, and degradation behavior that support their use as sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based plastics.
Environmental fate and effects of mulch films on agricultural soil: A systematic review from application to residual impact
This systematic review examines how plastic mulch films used in agriculture break down over time and release microplastics into farm soil. The films improve crop growth but create lasting environmental damage as plastic fragments accumulate and alter soil properties. The findings underscore the importance of developing truly biodegradable alternatives to protect farmland from microplastic pollution.
Circular use of plastics in open field and horticulture
This review discusses the challenges of plastic use in open-field and horticultural agriculture, examining European policy responses to reduce plastic pollution while maintaining crop productivity through reuse, recycling, and compostable alternatives.
Plastic mulching in agriculture. Trading short-term agronomic benefits for long-term soil degradation?
This study examined plastic mulch use in agriculture, arguing that short-term crop benefits come with long-term costs as mulch fragments accumulate in soil as microplastics and disrupt soil structure, biology, and water dynamics.
Past, present, and future perspectives of biodegradable films for soil: A 30-year systematic review
This systematic review tracks 30 years of research on biodegradable films for agricultural soil use, analyzing trends and future directions. As concerns grow about conventional plastic mulch leaving microplastic residues in farmland, biodegradable alternatives are gaining attention. The review identifies which biodegradable materials show the most promise for replacing traditional plastic films while maintaining crop benefits.
Plastic Mulch Films in Agriculture: Their Use, Environmental Problems, Recycling and Alternatives
This review examines how plastic mulch films used in farming break down into microplastics and nanoplastics that contaminate soil, harm soil organisms, and can enter the human body through the food chain. While developed countries are making progress with recycling and biodegradable alternatives, the health effects of nanoplastics from agricultural plastic remain largely unknown. Better collection, recycling, and alternative materials are needed to reduce this growing source of plastic pollution.
Potentials of synthetic biodegradable mulch for improved livelihoods on smallholder farmers: a systematic review
This systematic review evaluates biodegradable mulch as an alternative to conventional plastic mulch in farming, which is a major source of microplastic contamination in agricultural soils. Switching to biodegradable options could help reduce the buildup of microplastics in the soil where food crops are grown.
Environmental fate and effects of mulch films on agricultural soil: A systematic review from application to residual impact
This systematic review traces the full lifecycle of plastic mulch films used in farming, from application to breakdown in soil. While these films boost crop yields, they leave behind persistent residues that fragment into microplastics, potentially contaminating soil and groundwater. The review highlights the need for biodegradable alternatives to reduce long-term microplastic accumulation in agricultural land.
Are agricultural plastic covers a source of plastic debris in soil? A first screening study
Agricultural plastic covers made from polyethylene and polypropylene were assessed for their potential to fragment and contribute microplastics to underlying soil in a screening study, with early results suggesting partial breakdown during field use. The study provides preliminary evidence that agricultural covers are a source of soil microplastic contamination beyond just mulch films.
A Review of Microplastic Contamination in Agriculture: Sources, Impacts, and Solutions
This review examines the sources, occurrence, and impacts of microplastic pollution in agriculture, including degradation of mulch films, contaminated sewage sludge, and polymer-coated agrochemicals. Researchers highlight evidence that crops can take up microplastics, creating a direct pathway for food chain contamination. The study calls for standardized analytical methods and a comprehensive mitigation strategy based on refusing, redesigning, reducing, reusing, recycling, and recovering agricultural plastics.
Biodegradable Mulch for Vegetable Production. A Review
This review examined biodegradable plastic mulches as alternatives to conventional polyethylene mulch films in vegetable production, summarizing yield benefits and degradation performance. Replacing conventional plastic mulch with truly biodegradable alternatives could reduce the large amounts of agricultural microplastics shed by mulch film fragmentation.
Plastic Pollution in Agriculture as a Threat to Food Security, the Ecosystem, and the Environment: An Overview
This review examines how plastic products used in agriculture -- from mulch films to greenhouse covers -- contribute to microplastic pollution in soil, water, and crops. While plastics help boost crop production and food quality, their breakdown releases microplastics that can be taken up by plants and enter the food chain. The paper discusses strategies to reduce plastic pollution in farming, which is important because agricultural microplastics represent a direct pathway to human dietary exposure.