Every year, up to 24,000 tons of plastic film are left behind in Europe's fields. The consequences: Microplastics pollute the soil and cost time and money to dispose of. A research team led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP in Dresden is now developing an alternative that decomposes by itself after harvesting.
Farmers use mulch films to suppress weeds, retain water in the soil and warm the earth. In Europe alone, more than 80,000 tons are used every year. Almost all of them are made of plastic. The problem: up to 30 percent of these films are not removed from the field. They break down into microplastics and permanently pollute the soil. The films that are collected can hardly be recycled. Sludge and plant residues make recycling almost impossible. Most films end up in landfill sites or incinerators.
Tests in fields in different climate zones
The four-year project will run until September 2029. Three field trials with different plants and climate zones will show whether the films work in practice. At the same time, the researchers are testing how safe and sustainable the new materials are over their entire life cycle. The focus is on biodegradability.
"Our experience in plasma treatment and surface functionalization enables us to precisely adjust the properties of the films and thus create optimal conditions for various applications," explains May. The environmental impact should be reduced by at least 30 percent compared to conventional plastic films. At the end of the project, the participants want to present a market-ready technology. The materials developed could later also be used for food packaging.
