Plastics, Food Security, and Sustainable Urbanization

Ending poverty and zero hunger are listed as the first and second sustainable development goals (SDG). Other sustainable development goals such as building sustainable cities are also linked with food security and sustainable urbanization. Plastics have been widely used in various systems to achieve the goals of urban farming that seeks to grow as much food within the limited spaces in urban areas as possible. This is achieved using vertical structures and other urban farming innovations to improve yield per area. Plastics are also key materials in innovations that are used to improve conventional agricultural yield, food storage and shelf life improvement, pest management, and improved livelihoods. These topics are covered in this chapter. This in-depth review of the plastic application is significant in assessing the role of the plastic industry in the development of products that can positively contribute to global food security and sustainable urbanization goals.