Avoiding the mismanagement of agriplastics is a matter for all stakeholders

AUTHOR : Lauren WEIR, Senior Campaigner, the Environmental Investigation Agency
Plasticulture Magazine is thrilled to open once more its pages to the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). Last year, the EIA published a comprehensive series of reports on cultivating plastics in the UK, which puts forward that multi-stakeholder approaches such as national collection schemes are an effective way to manage agriplastics end-of-life. We asked Lauren Weir a few questions.
Plasticulture Magazine : The EIA published a series on Cultivating Plastics in 2023. In introduction, could you tell us what prompted this publication ?
Lauren Weir : We have been surveying the plastic footprint of UK supermarkets since 2018, including questions pertaining to initiatives they have been undertaking to help reduce plastic pollution across their supply chains. From these surveys, EIA noticed that UK supermarkets could be doing more with regards to plastic use in agriculture, especially given their responsibility as major purchasers of produce who ultimately drive market demand and, as a consequence and to a certain degree, agricultural methods.
In 2018, EIA published the briefing Fields of Plastics, providing recommendations for retailers. We subsequently built on these findings in following years. After a period of scoping, investigation and research, we published the Cultivating Plastic report series, which looked at plastic use in agriculture across the UK food supply chain. We wanted to provide a current state-of-play for stakeholders to have the information and insights needed in order to address the very concerning issue of agricultural plastic pollution, its complexity, its drivers and solutions.
Plasticulture Magazine : The series includes four chapters. Would you briefly present these reports and how you structured them?
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