Project details

What does the project stand for?

  • Soil protection

  • Sustainability

  • Detection of microplastics in soils

  • Alternative mulch films for agriculture

  • Life cycle assessment of biodegradable and conventional mulch films

What are the objectives of the project?

  • Estimation of the extent to which agricultural soils are contaminated by plastics.

  • Development of a measuring method to determine concentration, particle size, types and shapes of different polymers in soil ecosystems.

  • Investigate the effects of plastics on organisms, soil function, drainage systems and adjacent waters.

  • Comparison of existing national and international threshold values for plastic materials in soils.

  • Recommendation of a threshold value for plastics in soils under consideration of soil protection as well as national and international legislation.

  • Recommendation on how plastic emissions from mulch films in soils can be reduced.

  • Recommendation on how mulch film plastics can be recycled as a valuable resource as part of a circular plastics economy.