But the widespread use of plastic mulch poses a problem. Plastic used on farms is typically difficult and expensive to recycle because it becomes contaminated with soil, pesticides and fertiliser. These contaminants can amount to up to 50% of the total weight of the material collected for recycling, making the process costly and inefficient. If agri-plastic can’t be recycled, the only options for disposing of it are to burn it, bury it, or to send it to landfill.

Marcus Flury, a professor of soil science at Washington State University, says he is worried about the effect the plastic mulch is having on the environment. For all the benefits plastic mulch brings, it also alters the soil in harmful ways. Research has shown that the thinner the film, the more difficult it is to remove without leaving microplastics in the soil, where they can remain for decades. Microplastics can negatively affect soil quality, and could harm the microbes and tiny organisms that call the soil home.

Researchers do not yet fully understand the long-term effects all this plastic is having on soils, and, by extension, the food we eat. Studies have begun to show that microplastics are making their way into the human food chain, and into our bodies, but exactly where those plastics come from and how they affect our health is still to be determined.

Flury believes that swapping out plastic mulch for a biodegradable alternative may be our best bet: it wouldn’t have to be removed, and could simply be tilled into the soil at the end of the season. There is already an EU standard for biodegradability of plastic mulch, so farmers can be reassured that the plastic will actually break down after use. But there are still questions over the impact of these mulches on the soil itself. “That’s something that we are still researching at the moment,” he says.

This green swap also comes at a cost that many farmers cannot afford. At the moment, biodegradable plastic is about three times more expensive than its polyethylene equivalent in the US, according to Flury.