Agriculture, photodegradable plastics

On the more commercial front, the photooxidation of polymers continues to attract attention with a continued special interest in natural materials. Bio- and photodegradable plastics are important for agricultural usage. The same applies to polymer stabilisation where commercial applications dominate significantly with much emphasis on the synergistic behaviour of stabilisers. For dyes and pigments stability continues to be of major concern. 

Gilead, D., 1995, Photodegradable Plastics in Agriculture. In Degradable Polymers Principles and Applications (G. Scott and D. Gilead, eds). Chapman Hall, London, pp. 186-199. 

Gilead, D. Photodegradable plastics in agriculture. In Scott, G., Gilead, D. (eds.) Degradable polymers, p. 186. Springer, Amsterdam (1995)... 

Gilead D (1995) Photodegradable Plastics in Agriculture in Scott G and Gilead D, eds., Degradable Polymers Principles and Application, I edition, Chapman Hall (Kluwer Acad. Pub.), Chapter 10. 

The wide application of plastics in agriculture has a decisive influence on cultivation practices. Plastic films used as a growing aid in the form of mulch and tunnel covers have increased yields. The debris of these films left behind after the harvest poses a serious disposal problem. The controlled photodegradation of plastics affords a workable solution not only to this problem but opens new possibilities of the programmed removal of the films even during the growing period of the crops when this is desirable. 

---