Microplastics in seed treatment

There is growing global concern on the topic of microplastics in seed treatment, with countless publications in both the scientific community and general press. Although seed treatment accounts for only a small fraction of microplastics in the environment, our industry will have to play its part in reducing the environmental impact of microplastics.

At Incotec we are prepared. As part of Mission Zero, our sustainability strategy, we are developing a new range of microplastic-free products. We apply the same high-quality standards to our microplastic-free seed solutions as we do to our existing products and make sure that none of the features of advanced seed treatment are lost. All of our products need to be safe for seed, safe for the environment and safe for people. They need to have good abrasion resistance and provide maximum benefit from the actives, biologicals, additives and nutrients. And they need to be easy to apply and process.  

 

The first of these new products have recently become available: two microplastic-free film coats for sunflower.

If you would like to stay informed about further development of microplastic-free products, or participate in the validation phase of prototype products, contact us: general@incotec.com

 

 

soya seedling

THE 3 PROBLEMS WITH MICROPLASTICS

The problem with microplastics is a combination of a few factors.  
1. Researchers have seen that microplastics are toxic at certain concentrations, meaning that this will challenge the normal growth of microscopic marine life.  
2. Microplastics are persistent in the environment due to their resistance to biodegradation.  
3. Thirdly, there is no realistically viable method of getting rid of microplastics once they are in the environment.  

So, essentially, the concentration of microplastics will continue to increase over time and they introduce a potentially toxic element into the food chain.

At the current rate of release, we may already see negative effects in 2050. This means that it might already be affecting our children and our children's children. And it is to them that we have a responsibility.

Pelleting

The issue

Microplastics in the seed industry are a hot topic. Although less than 1% of the total microplastic release is from the seed industry, it is featured as one of the industries contributing to intentionally added microplastics in mixtures used by consumers or professionals in the draft restriction proposal of the the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) published in 2018. By now most people in the industry are aware of the restriction proposal and the potential consequences it may bring to the seed industry. Even though lots of seed treatment producers have started development work to find good alternatives, some of them have been proven to not work as well as existing solutions, jeopardising quality and therefore safety of the treated seeds for farmers, the environment and factory workers.

 

Challenges

In the past decade, seed treatment evolved tremendously from simple formulation consisting of colour and simple binder to more advanced formulations which focus on handling safety and retention of materials on seed. The amount of plant protection products applied to seeds has become more and more challenging, bringing seed treatment solutions to the edge of their performance capacity. Formulation chemists and polymer specialists have been tasked with designing film coating liquids (glue which binds rich seed treatments) which are much more robust and at the same time gentle for the germinated seed. This to ensure that the growing plant gets the best start to life. Some of the improvements brought by seed treatment include better dust-off, flowability, abrasion resistance, cosmetics, growth, yield, shelf-life and germination. Not forgetting the decrease in the amount of the plant protection product that needs to be applied compared to the traditional spray application. None of it would be possible without careful selection of the right polymer from a broad range of available polymers chemistries.

So, the questions really are: Can the new microplastic-free formulation address those challenges as well as its predecessors? Can we expect that a microplastic-free formulation will still be robust enough to protect the seed, the farmer, the environment and the factory workers?

Blue film coat blending phase 2

Definition

Let’s start with the definition of microplastics according to ECHA. At the moment, a microplastic is defined as a polymer-containing solid or semi-solid particle having size of 5 mm or less in at least one external dimension. The initial working definition did not distinguish between synthetic, naturally occurring or modified naturally occurring polymers. Neither between water soluble nor water insoluble polymers. Nevertheless, these elements have been recognised as important for the risk assessment and information on these aspects have been added to the final restriction proposal.

Following this, the current definition of microplastics was based on the term ‘polymer’ and many may argue that not all polymers are plastics but all plastics, and therefore also microplastics, are polymers. One reason for doing so was that the term ‘polymer’ is defined under Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) whilst plastics are not.

green coated seeds

Solubility

ECHA recognises that polymers that occur in nature in solid or semi-solid particulate form, like cellulose or starch, can be inherently biodegradable and therefore should not be consider microplastics. Nonetheless, additional data on the release to the environment and biodegradability might be required for the exemption. Next to that, polymers that are water soluble will also remain soluble after release into the environment, therefore they will be unlikely contributors to the concerns about microplastics. Still, there is a need for the appropriate threshold value for demonstrating solubility, which is under discussion now and will most likely be added to the final restriction.

State of the art

Microplastic will be present in the environment for a long time after their initial release and following this, they will accumulate and cause potential health risk. They are resistant to normal environmental degradation, which is the biggest concern moving forward and the basis for the restriction. Alternatives that will ensure this will not happen need to be sought after. As mentioned previously, current solutions in seed treatment may contain solid non-degradable polymers like polystyrene or polyacrylate copolymers which are water dispersible but not soluble. They have been designed as film-formers that ensure good adhesion of all components onto the seeds which also need to allow the optimal movement of water in the seed coating and must be non-hazardous for the seed as well as for the growing plant. This delicate balance needs to be translated to the new solutions and, as they need to be much more biodegradable or soluble than current ones, we must ensure that this will not create new problems with on-shelf stability for both formulations and coated seeds or ease of application. Finding the best solution is demanding but not impossible.

primed tomato seedlings

Sustainable future

For all those reasons microplastic-free seed treatment presents itself with great challenges but also great opportunities for even greater sustainability. United Nations Development Programme has established sustainable development goals and by moving towards microplastic-free solutions for seed treatment we can surely contribute to the sustainable management and protection of marine and coastal ecosystems – Life below water. Microplastic-free is not only a trend, it’s here to stay and we can be certain that we will see the seed industry move towards microplastic-free film coatings, pellets and encrustment technologies. Regulatory restraints might be the catalyst for the move but now more than ever we should make sure that we take the right decisions for the future of our planet.

Sunflower seed with microplastic-free film coat

First new products

The first of Incotec’s new microplastic-free film coats are already available (more information in the product finder) and the development of this product range is ongoing. We are prioritizing products first affected by the upcoming legislation. Although legislation will be implemented in Europe first, it is highly likely that it will be adopted elsewhere. This means that we will also make microplastic-free alternatives available in regions outside Europe, with the US and Latin America being the first of these. After this, our products will gradually become available around the globe. 

Contact

Do you want to stay informed about the latest development around microplastics in the seed industry or the development of new products? Contact us.

 

 

Webinar: Yes to seed treatment but...what about microplastics?

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