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How to produce more food sustainably using less plastic
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LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) is a charity that promotes and supports more sustainable farming to create a resilient food and farming system for future generations.
We connect: We connect farmers, innovators and industry to understand best practice sustainable farm management and how it can be applied most effectively to each farm’s unique situation.
We build trust: We provide assurance that growers are farming more sustainably through our independently audited LEAF Marque certification; from the health of their soils to how they engage with local communities.
We educate: Our team of qualified educational specialists work with schools, citizens and farmers across the UK to bring sustainable farming to life, both in schools and on-farm. LEAF promotes more regenerative farming through Integrated Farm Management (IFM). It is a whole farm business approach that uses the best of modern technology and traditional methods.
© Leaf Plastics can be found everywhere on farm.
From greenhouses, polytunnels, silage wrap, mulching, plastic reservoirs, irrigation systems to buckets and water troughs, their presence is pervasive across all agricultural sectors.
While there are benefits of plastics in producing and protecting food, most are still single-use and pose a serious risk of pollution and harm to human and ecosystem health.
There have been significant strides in the past decade to recycle and reuse plastics wherever possible, but there is still an urgent need for smarter and more efficient management in plastic waste to minimise the many tonnes that are used on farm each year.
So how can we produce more food sustainably whilst using less plastic?
With World Recycle Week taking place this month, why not take a look at Leaf’s Simply Sustainable Plastics booklet, which forms part of a wider Simply Sustainable series of free technical guides for farmers.
It outlines cost effective and practical ways to managing your plastic waste streams in more environmentally responsible ways.
The booklet includes six simple steps which can be incorporated into your farming system and as part of an integrated farm management (IFM) approach. It covers:
- Uses of plastics on farm
- Conducting a waste audit and a waste action plan
- Waste management practices including reducing, reusing and recycling
- Future actions for continuous improvement on-farm.
Providing more sustainable solutions for plastic used across agriculture is a big priority.
By embracing new innovations and adopting practices that avoid plastic use, substituting products with sustainable alternatives and promoting a more circular approach, the farming sector can deliver the changes required while working towards it net-zero targets.
Read Simply Sustainable Plastics and access our other booklets in the series which are all based on the core principles of integrated farm management.