Georeferencing of agricultural plastic waste

The use of plastic materials in agriculture, for greenhouse covering, soil mulching, irrigation pipes, containers and bags, generates a huge amounts of plastic waste that must be properly disposed of. An adequate waste management and disposal system requires the knowledge of the waste generation on the land. This paper presents the results of a research, based on the application of a Geographical Information System, for mapping the waste generation in the municipality of Trinitapoli, Italy. Aim of the research is to identify the points of waste generation and to quantify the waste. A dedicated geo-referenced database with data on the spatial distribution and amount of the plastic wastes was created; waste density ranged from 3.3 kg ha-1yr-1 to 861 kg ha-1yr-1.