Cultivating Plastic Part 1: Agriplastics and the UK grocery retail supply chain

The use of plastics in agriculture (commonly known as ‘agriplastics’) only accounts for 3.5 per cent of annual global plastic usage. However, their design, use and the pollution they cause are devastating and extend far beyond farmland. 

The increased use of plastics in agriculture and the function they provide have been used to both justify and gloss over their impacts on the environment and human health – in reality, their flawed, chemical-ridden and single-use design results in contamination and mismanagement throughout their entire lifecycle.

In this first of four reports, EIA takes a step back to outline what agriplastics are and who is also responsible for finding solutions to tackle the environmental and human health harm they cause. This includes those with the regulatory responsibility to provide adequate policies (i.e. the UK Government) and those with the purchasing power across international supply chains (i.e. the grocery retail sector), which also help create the system within which farmers and growers operate.