Investigating the Agricultural Use and Disposal of Plastics in Malta

Rainer Borg () and Margaret Camilleri-Fenech ()
Additional contact information
Rainer Borg: Institute for Climate Change and Sustainable Development, University of Malta, MSD 2080 Msida, Malta
Margaret Camilleri-Fenech: Institute for Climate Change and Sustainable Development, University of Malta, MSD 2080 Msida, Malta

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 3, 1-40

Abstract: The use of plastics in agriculture has become so omnipresent that it has acquired its own lexicon, and it is now known as “plasticulture”. However, since compared to other industries, plastic consumption in agriculture is low, little attention has been paid to this material and its eventual disposal. This disregard is evident within both local and international statistics and policies, despite the close connection its disposal bears to soil health, making correct disposal a prerequisite for improving the health and sustainability of food production processes. Using Malta as a case study, this research utilizes quantitative and qualitative tools to identify and quantify the most common types of agricultural plastic waste generated and to determine the attitudes of farmers towards the establishment of a collection and recycling scheme. While the results indicate that for 38% of respondents, the incineration and plowing of plastic waste are regular practices, they also ascertain the willingness of farmers to acquire additional knowledge about more appropriate methods to dispose of this waste stream, thus guiding policy makers towards the need to initiate educational measures for farmers to prevent these harmful practices. The stakeholder interviews highlight that the present lack of data is a major obstacle, preventing policy from taking this waste stream into account.

Keywords: agricultural plastic waste; disposal practices; extended producer responsibility; collection schemes; waste audits (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/3/954/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/3/954/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:3:p:954-:d:1324527

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().