Roughly 135,500 tonnes of plastic waste is generated by farms each year, according to the Chartered Institute of Waste Management. But these old figures may well be an underestimate since there’s no mandatory reporting. Plastic usage on farms may only account for 2 per cent of all the plastic used in the UK, but from there it can leach into our food system – polluting water, soil, crops, and harming animals.
A study of over 100 British farms growing potatoes and carrots found that all farm soils contained plastics. On average 3,700 microplastic particles were found per kilo of soil and there were many more particles where farmers used plastic crop covers.
It is not surprising since plastic is a ubiquitous product found on countless farms across the UK where it’s used for wrapping and netting silage bales, as well as protective mulches for young crops. It is used for twine, polytunnels, pots, buckets, fertiliser, seed and chemical bags, as well as pesticide containers. There‘s no end to plastic’s use since it is a durable material.
“Agricultural plastics are the real elephant in the room. Each year we cut 2,000 bales of hay across our farm. If I had wrapped them all in plastic, that’s six layers each – that would be the equivalent to half a million single-use carrier bags,“ explains Stuart Oates, a Cornish farmer and founder of theFossil Free Farm project.
“The problem is that it gets into the farm environment. If I cut across a bale of net wrap, microplastics are released. And you’re cutting it where your livestock are eating, it’s going into their feed, which they are eating. It’s not good.”
Poor recycling rates
Aside from reducing rates of use, one of the biggest challenges involves boosting recycling. In the UK, recycling rates are poor at 20 to 30%. Ireland has an enviable 90-95% recycling rate, France, 80% and Germany, 60% – we could be doing a lot more at home.
“There are huge gaps in the regulation, monitoring, in fact everything, and no statutory targets set for reducing agricultural plastics. We certainly need more regulatory signals. We don’t even understand the exact numbers on volumes of plastics used in order to set targets,” explains Maddy Potter Wood, Policy Officer, Farming and Land Use at the Soil Association.
She adds: “Focusing on the end-of-life for plastics and recycling is key. Right now all the burden and cost sits with farmers – signing up to schemes and tracking down recycling centres. Recycling sites can also be a long distance from remote, upland livestock farms; it is a big challenge. Ultimately, it is more important to reduce plastic use.”
A major unmonitored problem
It doesn’t help that there are only 15 or fewer recyclers who handle agricultural plastics across the whole of the UK. The challenge involves wet, dirty, and contaminated plastics. At the same time, virgin plastic is cheap and overabundant.
“Some bury it or throw it in the corner of a shed on the farm, which still happens. Farmers can send it to landfill, because most will have a skip or some sort of waste management system to get rid of junk. They will chuck plastic in the skip, and they’ll think that’s recycling, but this is often not the case,” explains Ian Creasey, CEO of Agriculture, Plastic & Environment UK (APE UK), an not-for-profit organisation which is industry-led and funded by agri-plastic producers.
Frighteningly, some farmers still burn plastic on their land and there also continues to be illegal plastic waste exports, as highlighted by a report from the Environmental Investigation Agency.
“Every farmer has a big problem with plastics. It needs to be cleaned and this is a cost to the farmer. Not many recycling plants will take agricultural plastic either. We certainly need more processing plants in the UK,” points out Chantal Anstey from C A Agri-Plastics Recycling.
And the issue isn’t going away any time soon. The global production of plastics is forecast to triple between now and 2060. “So the issues we’re facing now with respect to health are likely to grow unless we take massive action. Plastics themselves can be harmful. They’re driving pollution because they are driving food production,” stated Joe Yates, a director at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in a webinar on this very issue recently.
The UK also has some of the highest rates of soil microplastic contamination in Europe, mainly due to the deployment of sewage biosolids on farmland.
A beacon of hope
The Four Rivers for LIFE project in South Wales could lead the way for other UK regions. The aim is to boost collection rates for farm plastics so they don’t pollute the waterways. The scheme is looking to recycle an extra 200 tonnes of farm plastics. Farmers are now incentivised to take plastic to drop-off centres at various livestock markets and other sites.
“Natural Resources Wales woke up to the fact that there was an awful lot of blown agricultural plastic appearing on the edges of rivers,” explains Creasey, from APE UK, which is part of this programme.
He adds: “Landowners are paid £30 a tonne for agri-plastic, which is not a lot, but it’s an incentive to recycle. But, this is opening up conversations with farmers who want to do the right thing. It also shows them that there’s some support and the government is trying to help. We’re already seeing the positive benefits of this with increasing collection rates.”
The UK’s Circular Economy Growth Plan from the UK government is being released this year and is expected to include agri-plastics, while elements of the Sustainable Farming Incentive could account for farm plastic use.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes – where the polluter pays – applies to other industries, such as plastic packaging in the UK, where producers of plastic pay, and ultimately consumers, for recycling.
“I think an EPR scheme would be a really interesting opportunity, because we should be obliging plastic producers to meet the costs of recycling and disposal in the UK. Currently no such scheme applies to agri-plastics, which is really shocking. So this would definitely be a good avenue for change,” details Potter Wood from the Soil Association.
However, there is little appetite among policymakers and politicians to burden farmers with more costs, in the light of the Inheritance tax debacle and backtracking by Westminster. But a lack of action in the UK fails to address the growing farm plastics challenge, which is set to grow. Could Ireland offer a good case study?
“It has the highest recycling rate of any market we know, pretty much globally. This is a government legislated scheme, where a farmer is charged a significant levy at the point of purchase of their plastic. This is designed to force recycling. It’s very effective, but this puts all the costs and the pressure on the farmer,” details Creasey.
Ireland’s only approved plastics recycling compliance scheme is run by the Irish Farm Film Producers Group (IFFPG), which charges 286 euros (£250) a tonne levy to companies who place farm plastics on the Irish market. The farmer gets a valid label code on proof of purchase and then pays 120 euros (£105) to recycle a tonne of plastic.
The scheme is funded through a combination of the recycling levy and weight-based collection charges paid by farmers. IFFG has over 200 bring centres around the country as well as on-farm collection services and is extremely effective.
Sustainable alternatives to plastic, which don’t leach micro, non-degradable contaminants into the environment offer hope. Innovative Farmers, run by the Soil Association, is supporting growers to run field labs and on-farm trials.
It is looking at replacing plastic baling net and twine with sisal, which is a natural, compostable product. The scheme is also working with farmers trialling alternatives to plastic mulch, which include woodchip, grass, cardboard, under-sown mulches, green waste, straw, hay, wood, compost, and biodegradable film.
“Farmers are on this plastics treadmill, so we need to support them to explore viable alternatives. Some are leading the way on these innovations. But they need practical and financial support,” concludes Potter Wood.
Image by Roger Bradshaw, Unsplash.
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