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Papers
20 resultsShowing papers similar to Agricultural plastics and environmental sustainability: Assessment and remediation strategies
ClearTowards 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.
Plastic 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Advances in the Sustainable Use of Plastics in Horticulture—Perspectives, Innovations, Opportunities, and Limitations
This review assesses the sustainability of plastic use in horticulture — including mulch films, crop covers, and polytunnels — and evaluates options to reduce, reuse, recycle, or replace them. It matters for microplastics because agricultural plastics left in fields fragment into microplastics that contaminate soil and crops, and the review identifies where biodegradable or alternative materials offer the most practical substitution.
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.
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.
Agricultural Plastic Waste Management
This article describes a European research project on recycling agricultural plastic waste including mulch films, packaging, and greenhouse covers, which are significant sources of microplastic contamination in farmland soils. The project developed innovative biodegradation routes as an alternative to landfill disposal.
Plasticultura en México: Impactos Ambientales y Desafíos para la Sostenibilidad
This systematic review analyzes the environmental impact of agricultural plastic use in Mexico, where over 45,000 hectares use plastic mulches, greenhouse covers, and irrigation systems. Poor management of this agricultural plastic waste contributes to microplastic pollution in soils, which can affect crop quality and potentially enter the food chain.
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.
Microplastics accumulation in agricultural soil: Evidence for the presence, potential effects, extraction, and current bioremediation approaches
This review examines the accumulation of microplastics in agricultural soils from sources like plastic mulching and irrigation, discussing their effects on soil properties and crop growth, along with current bioremediation approaches for removing soil microplastics.
Microplastics in Agricultural Soil and Their Impact: A Review
This review examines how microplastics accumulate in agricultural soils through sources like plastic mulch films, sewage sludge, and fertilizers. The particles can affect soil structure, microbial activity, and plant health, with common polymer types including polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene found across farmland. The study emphasizes the need for better plastic waste management to protect agricultural ecosystems from growing microplastic contamination.
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.
Impact of Management Strategies on Reducing of Mulching Film Residues Pollution in Arid Regions
Researchers examined the impact of different management strategies — including increased polyethylene film recycling rates and adoption of biodegradable mulch films — on reducing mulching film residue pollution in arid agricultural regions. The study found that combining recycling incentives with biodegradable film adoption significantly reduced soil plastic accumulation, supporting sustainable agricultural development in water-limited dryland farming systems.
Impact of plastic mulching as a major source of microplastics in agroecosystems
This review examines how plastic mulch films used in agriculture break down into microplastics over time, making farmland a major source of soil microplastic pollution. The accumulated microplastics can alter soil properties, affect plant growth, and be taken up by crops that humans eat. The study highlights the need for better end-of-life management of agricultural plastics and more research on how farm-sourced microplastics enter the food chain.
Agricultural Plastic Mulch: A Brief Review of Development, Composition and Catalytic Upcycling Strategies
This review examines the environmental impact of agricultural plastic mulch film, which has led to significant microplastic accumulation in farm soils worldwide. Researchers evaluate various catalytic upcycling technologies including photocatalysis and thermocatalysis that can convert waste mulch into useful hydrocarbon resources with near-complete efficiency. The study also assesses the progress and remaining challenges of biodegradable mulch alternatives for sustainable agriculture.
Microplastics in agricultural soils: sources, impacts, and mitigation strategies
This review summarizes how microplastics enter agricultural soils through wastewater irrigation, plastic mulch breakdown, and atmospheric deposition, where they alter soil structure, microbial communities, and water retention. The particles can also carry heavy metals and organic pollutants into the food chain, threatening both crop productivity and human health, making it important to reduce plastic use in farming and improve waste management.
Dealing with Plastic Waste from Agriculture Activity
This review examines plastic waste generated by agricultural activities in Portugal and Europe — including mulch films, greenhouse covers, and irrigation tubing — and evaluates current recycling rates, contamination barriers, and strategies for improving plastic recovery from farming operations.