Market-based tools for a plastic waste reduction policy in agriculture: A case study in the south of Italy

The 2018 European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy identifies a set of actions to reduce plastic waste in the EU in the near future. To implement this strategic view, appropriate policy tools need to be identified within Member Countries. The present work aims at investigating farmers’ attitudes towards the use of traditional market-based tools (i.e. subsidies and tax-credits) as well as other initiatives such as a pay-back mechanism under an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) to reduce plastic waste in agriculture. We analyse the case of the province of Foggia, an area which is recognised as being the largest plain in southern Italy. We consider a survey of 1,783 farmers and a multinomial regression model to infer on the probability of adopting the above policy tools. Key results suggest that the choice of each policy tool would be affected by the type of plastic waste generated. In particular, plastic packaging and plastic films would be likely to affect the probability to opt for a subsidy. In contrast, other types of plastic waste mainly generated by cereal crops activities (e.g. plastic bags and bottles for fertilisers and chemicals) would favour the adoption of a tax-credit mechanism. As for other aspects, horticulture production and the proximity to a collection site for waste disposal would increase the probability of adopting an EPR policy to contribute to plastic waste reduction