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GOOD QUESTION
GQ: What happens to the sheets of plastic used in strawberry fields?
Posted: Jun 20, 2012 8:46 PM by John Reger
Updated: Jun 21, 2012 8:59 AM
Our Good Question tonight is about something we see all the time in the strawberry fields on the Central Coast... sheets of plastic. Ken Harvey from Nipomo wants to know, "What happens to all that plastic after the berries are harvested?"
Good Question, Ken.
Most of it is recycled. Growers use two layers of plastic: one over the entire field to kill pests; then later, another layer over each row to keep plants separated from weeds and soil.
Most local growers recycle it at the end of a season through Crown Disposal of Southern California. Growers roll up the plastic by hand or hire Crown to do it. Then Crown hauls the plastic, along with used plastic drip tapes and watering tubes, to it's conversion machines.
It's all converted into pellets which are manufactured into fresh plastic for the fields, plus new drip tape and tubes. The growers pay nothing for the recycling service. And Crown Disposal makes it's money be selling the new plastic products to the growers.
Be sure to send your Good Question to ksby.com or facebook.com/JohnRegerKsbyNews. The only bad question is the one you don't ask.
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