Innovative Material and Improved Technical Design for a Sustainable Exploitation of Agricultural Plastic Film

Abstract

The use of plastic material in agriculture has been growing during the last decades thanks to the benefits it provides in agricultural production. The durability of plastic films is related to the meteorological and environmental conditions, as well as to the consequence of stress they are subjected to during their operational life. An improvement in the technical design of the agricultural plastic film is connected with a closer link between its chemical formulation and the engineering performance. The present article presents a general review about innovative material and new techniques for mechanical recycling of agricultural plastic film

The EU policy for a plastic economy: Reflections on a sectoral implementation strategy

“…Tunnels and greenhouses, nets for crop protection and shading, soil mulching, solarisation films, films for silage, plastic reservoir and irrigation systems, nets for harvesting and postharvesting operations, and containers for packaging such as sacks, boxes, pesticides bottles, pots, string, and ropes are just some of the examples that can be referred to as a proof of fact (Picuno, 2014(Picuno, , 2012Scarascia, Sica, & Russo, 2012;Vox et al, 2010).…”

Relationship between the passivation of TiO2 particles and LLDPE photodegradation: a comparison between bulk and surface impacts

“…When the TiO 2 particles are added to a polymer, a higher light scattering is produced . In this context, TiO 2 has been used in a wide variety of industrial applications, including packaging materials, protective filters, membranes, agricultural equipment, and automotive and building parts . However, the application of TiO 2 is limited to outdoor environments, especially over long time periods, since TiO 2 can degrade the polymer by photodegradation .…”

Multilayers Polyethylene Film for Crop Protection in Harsh Climatic Conditions

“…The growing use of plastics in agriculture results in increased yield, earlier or delayed harvest, less reliance on herbicides and pesticides, better protection of food products, and more efficient water conservation [1][2][3]. According to most recent estimation [4][5][6], the annual consumption in the world of plastic material in the agricultural sector is approximately 5 million tons (about 2% of the total plastic production), and it seems to be steadily growing.…”