Tag: uk

As awareness of the issues brought about by agriplastic use are growing, so too is the search for alternative products or methods.

British farms produce 135,500 tonnes of soil-contaminated agricultural plastic waste each year – roughly equivalent in weight to 900 adult blue whales.

Agriplastics are used widely in agriculture to grow and store produce, but are also responsible for widespread pollution, from their manufacture and use to mismanagement at the end of their useful life.

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. 

Recent years have witnessed an alarming increase in the illegal trade of plastic waste, with high-income countries consuming plastic products and packaging at unsustainable rates, exporting their plastic waste to developing countries with little capacity and infrastructure to manage it.

In this report, we reveal that the take-up of climate-friendly refrigeration by supermarket chains is spreading faster and more widely than ever. We are concerned that major retailers are missing an easy climate win and the chance to significantly lower their energy bills, by not fitting doors on refrigeration units