what do farmers do with it?

[windycity8]

we went for a lovely drive in the countryside this weekend and saw lots of crops growing under reams and reams of clear plastic. what do the farmers do with this plastic after they have used it, do they recycle it, who collects it? just a thought that crossed my mind!

[boxtops]

As far as I know they keep it for next year (unless it's damaged) - it's polytunnels, they are the new glasshouses.

[windycity8]

they werent tunnels boxtops, just polythene lying on the floor pegged down i think or do you mean this?

[boxtops]

Ah, no that's different then - the answer then has to be sorry, I don't know!

[beejay1124]

its to keep frost away/ put heat into the soil

[padanarm]

It's their land and it stop us pesky townies walking on it.

[Hawkwalk]

a lot of it is made from biodegradable plastics and can just get ploughed back into the ground once the crop is harvested.

[boxtops]

I used biodegrable house refuse sacks for a while last year for collecting my veg trimmings for compost, and when I emptied the compost bin last week to get out all the lovely new compost, there were great clumps of the nondegraded bags in there. Looks like it would take a good five years to go down!

[Hawkwalk]

there are different types of degradability. The plastic bags you buy need heat to enable the breakdown to work properly and home composting does not get hot enough.

[boxtops]

Thanks hawkwalk - they don't explain that when you buy 'em! They were breaking up but not nearly enough for domestic purposes.

[carrust]

Are you sure it was polythene covering the crops, not horticultural fleece?

[vulcan]

This type of farming has become quite widespread in recent years. It retains heat and the plants break through quicker. There are a number of polythene recycling depots, so unless the material degrades I assume it ends up at one of those.
http://www.flickr.com...igelblake/2353420496/

[Booldawg]

On the cycle into work I've noticed a similar covered field. At first it look like snow as its a continous white covering. Looks like sheets of layered polythene.