It is estimated that UK farms produce 135,500 tonnes of contaminated ‘agriplastic’ waste each year, but according to the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management, only 20-30 per cent is reprocessed into new products.
The rest is disposed of - including through illegal burning, burying and dumping - or is exported, which often involves illegal disposal, according to the EIA, an NGO that investigates and campaigns against environmental crime and abuse.
The EIA's latest investigation, published today, reveals that UK farmers are continuing to burn these plastics in-situ, despite the practice being banned in England and Wales in 2006 and in Scotland since 2019.
Lauren Weir, the report's author and EIA senior campaigner, said the illegal activity was due to the high costs of agriplastic waste collection and recycling. She also argued that the UK’s environment regulator, the Environment Agency (EA) does not have sufficient capacity to monitor the disposal...