Implementation of GIS technologies for planning the valorisation of agricultural waste: the TANGO-Circular Project

The volume of waste produced by agricultural activities is constantly rising, due to the continuous increase of crop and livestock production, aimed to cover the nutritional needs of the accreting population of the Planet. According to recent estimations, the total amount of waste produced in the whole EU by the agricultural sector during the period 2010-2016, has been around 18.4 billion tons, which represents an average of 2.6 billion tons/year. This number is slightly exceeding the amount of waste from all other sectors combined. This enormous mass of waste has a significant environmental impact, which needs suitable solutions to reduce the carbon footprint of agriculture, while increasing the economic income for farmers. A promising way to reduce agricultural waste, passes through the valorization of agricultural co-products, by-products and residues, as well as other non-organic materials - such as plastics, widely used in crop cultivation and animal production - after the end of their working life. In order to involve farmers to play an active role on this issue, contributing to transform what they currently consider as a “waste” into a new “resource”, under the perspective of a circular economy and for a more sustainable agriculture, the Project TANGO-Circular has been financed by the EU Erasmus+ Programme. Aim of this Project is to train farmers and other agricultural stakeholders to be involved in finding viable solutions to exploit unusable remains of crops or animal farms, so as to enhance their financial input, while simultaneously contribute to reducing the environmental impact of their agro-livestock activities. With the aim to plan the valorization of agricultural waste, under the TANGO-Circular Project, a Geographical Information System (GIS) has been implemented through an open-access software (Q-GIS). This GIS has been structured into a first part dedicated to the quantification of agricultural waste flows – both organic, coming from agroindustrial activities, and not-organic, such as plastics - and a second part, focused on the spatial distribution of these flows in the study area of the project partners. Through GIS, the areas with high density of agricultural waste have been pointed out, and the suitable location of potential collection centres has been proposed. The maps that have been produced, as well as the GIS database, are always updatable tools, useful also for monitoring and optimizing the sorting and collection of agricultural waste from the farms, their suitable treatments and transport to the collection centers or recycling stations. The implemented GIS methodology has revealed very useful to support farmers and their associations, as well as all public bodies interested to govern the agricultural waste flows, to individuate possible solutions designed for the valorization of these flows, in the perspective of a circular economy. The sustainability and economic, territorial, environmental and social convenience of each form of valorization designed have been investigated, and criticalities associated with each phase of the process and consequent implementation of appropriate solutions to each problem have been addressed. Finally, further possible solutions, aimed at an increasingly better valorization of these flows, have been proposed as well

Agrochemical Contamination and Ageing Effects on Greenhouse Plastic Film for Recycling

Plastic films used for crop protection have reached notable consumption all over Europe, as well as in the rest of the world. This phenomenon however poses a serious environmental problem connected with the impact on the sustainability of agricultural production and relevant plastic footprint. Mechanical recycling of agricultural plastics is a common technique, but limited by many factors, as the loss of mechanical properties of plastic film. This phenomenon, due to its ageing after being exposed to natural weather conditions, plays a crucial role, especially when aggravated by contamination with agrochemicals ordinarily used for crop health and pest management. This article reports the result of some laboratory tests on agricultural plastic film, artificially aged for different periods and contaminated with two different agrochemicals (anti-aphid or fungicide). These results show that the impact of agrochemicals on plastic film is considerable, since it worsens the ageing process of the plastic film, conducting a more rapid reduction in its mechanical properties—mostly, a faster reduction in the elongation at break below 50% of the corresponding value of the virgin plastic film. This phenomenon, other than reducing the working life of the plastic film, gives it a low potential for being transformed into a closed-loop recycled material when entering the recycling stage. The increase in the value of the detected Carbonyl Index (CI) confirms the tendency of the material to degrade rapidly when in contact with agrochemicals, hence indicating that it may be impossible to mechanically recycle it

Agrochemical plastic packaging waste decontamination and recycling: pilot tests in Italy

Agriculture, one of the main economic pillars in Europe, plays a growing important role towards the environmental sustainability of the extra-urban land, in which the agricultural activities may proactively contribute to control and regulate the whole ecological conditions. Modern agriculture currently needs big quantities of agrochemicals, which are necessary for the growth and protection of crops and animals. These agrochemicals are commercially distributed to consumers in many types of containers. The most widely used among their packaging solutions usually employ plastic material (e.g., containers for liquid pesticide; sacks for granular fertilizer; etc.). This material, after the use of the agrochemical, needs to be decontaminated, before being entrained in a recycling process. In the present paper the main results coming from a EU-funded international project are reported, with specific reference to the pilot station that was realized in Italy with the aim to implement and test a codified system for the decontamination of these plastic containers for agrochemicals. The experimental tests were supported by relevant laboratory analysis, which have confirmed that the “triple rinsing” system – traditionally employed by farmers for washing and decontaminating these containers - may be effective only under some conditions. Triple-rinsing by farmers has indeed lead to an only partial decontamination of the plastic containers, if farmers did not follow an appropriately triple-rinsing protocol, or did not triple-rinse the containers immediately after their emptying

Agrochemical plastic packaging waste decontamination for recycling: pilot tests in Italy

Agriculture, one of the main economic pillars in Europe, plays a growing important role towards the environmental sustainability of the extra-urban land, in which the agricultural activities may proactively contribute to control and regulate the whole ecological conditions. Modern agriculture currently needs big quantities of agrochemicals, which are necessary for the growth and protection of crops and animals. These agrochemicals are commercially distributed to consumers in many types of containers. The most widely used packaging solutions usually employ plastic materials (e.g., containers for liquid pesticide; sacks for granular fertiliser; etc.). These materials, after the use of the agrochemical, need to be decontaminated, before being entrained in a recycling process, in the framework of a circular economy. In the present paper the main results coming from a EU-funded international project are reported, with specific reference to a pilot station that was realised in Italy with the aim to implement and test a codified system for the decontamination of these plastic containers for agrochemicals. The experimental tests were supported by relevant laboratory analysis, which have confirmed that the triple-rinsing decontamination procedure - traditionally employed by farmers for washing and decontaminating these containers - may be effective only under some well-defined conditions. Triple rinsing by farmers has indeed led to an only partial decontamination of the plastic containers, if farmers did not follow an appropriate triple-rinsing protocol, or did not triple-rinse the containers immediately after their emptying