The meeting, held at IFAPA, served to explore biodegradable and compostable alternatives that represent an advance today and could soon become mandatory by regulation.
Grupo Agroponiente continues to participate in the actions of the Recicland Program, promoted by the Junta de Andalucía with the aim of transferring technology and knowledge to technicians, farmers, and other field agents regarding the recycling of materials used in the greenhouse cultivation process.
This June, the ‘Andalusian Institute for Agricultural, Fisheries, Food, and Organic Production Research and Training of the Junta de Andalucía’ (IFAPA) center in La Mojonera hosted a new session of this Recicland Program, focused on waste treatment and management, in which a group of professionals from Grupo Agroponiente participated, including their R&D manager, Antonio Algarra.
Specifically, the session was about the ‘Management of Plastic Inputs and the Use of Alternative Inputs’, referring to new materials for tutoring plants as a substitute for traditional raffia, which is one of the major challenges in recycling and managing non-organic greenhouse waste today.
Among the conclusions of the session, it was confirmed that plastic raffia for tutoring plants poses a serious problem when managing plant waste in composting centers due to the difficulty of separating it from the plants and the general recycling issues it presents, resulting in high management costs for these plants.
This is why the replacement of this material with biodegradable and compostable alternatives is not only seen as a useful and reliable solution but also, the Junta de Andalucía has been warning that regulations will eventually mandate the management of waste separated from raffia or using alternative materials.
During the session, the need to prepare the legal framework for aid to support this progressive replacement was also noted, and alternative solutions such as cellulose-viscose thread, biodegradable plastics, biopaper for mulching, or jute threads of different thicknesses were highlighted.
Communication Department.
Grupo Agroponiente.
