As the world's population continues to grow, the demand for food security also increases. While single-use plastics, such as mulch, benefit farmers economically, they also raise concerns about plastic pollution in agriculture. It includes environmental impacts from chemicals released into the soil, pollution from plastic burning, and potential effects on human health.
Food security and environmental safety today face a range of conflicting challenges. “Some plastic applications, such as mulch, can reduce the use of water, pesticides, and herbicides in some cases, and are cost-effective for farmers. However, the impacts on soil health and the subsequent effects on food production, food security, and nutrition are only beginning to gain mainstream attention, and they are raising concerns among policymakers,” says Joe Yates of the London School of Tropical Medicine, who, along with fellow scientist Megan Deeney, is on the Working Group on Food Systems of the Scientists Coalition for Effective Plastics Treaty
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