It’s a sobering reality that today, in an age where we are constantly discovering negative effects of plastic production and waste, that the industry standard for growers and nurseries is still plastic pots. The most alarming part of this is that 95-98% of those plastic pots will not be recycled. They will end up in a landfill or incinerated. Up to half a billion pots per year, in fact.
According to Cognitive Market Research, the global plastic flower pots and planter market size is 1121.5 million in 2024. It is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 5% annually up to 2031. Why is that the plastic flower pot industry is still growing, when so many consumers are willing to or even eagerly pursuing alternatives? Research has shown that consumers are more than willing to spend more on a product that they view as healthier for the environment. So, if it’s not on the consumer side, it must be on the grower’s side. Growers find it costly and difficult to seek out and invest in alternatives, to have to consider machinery changes, and to have to make changes to production. The plastic pot industry initially made it possible for nurseries to become as big as some of them are today, and they often can’t see that there is a way for them to remain profitable and streamlined without plastic. We’re here to tell you that there is.
It hasn’t been easy for companies making pots with alternative materials to gain popularity. Companies using alternative materials have to compete with convenience.
The plastics industry makes things cheap and easy, which is what many business owners want. But the uncomfortable reality we are faced with is that if we don’t change our ways we are putting our planet and our lives in jeopardy.
So, what difference would it make if growers and nurseries stopped using plastic plant pots? Let’s imagine for a moment that demand for plastic plant pots has decreased, and growers and nurseries everywhere have found a way to switch to alternative materials. Perhaps, like EcoForms pots, those materials help save water and are compatible with their automated filling machines. Perhaps they are able to raise their prices just enough to offset the extra cost of the pots, and the consumers see the value in using biodegradable materials and are willing to pay for it. Perhaps their business even grows, because the eco-conscious consumer is no longer put off by the materials used.
If all growers and nurseries stopped buying plastic pots, that’s 500 million less plastic products in the landfill next year than there were the year before. Considering the 5% projected annual growth rate of the plastic pot industry, it’s even more than 500 million kept out of the landfill the next year, and more the year after that. It’s over half a billion plastic pots every year that will cease to exist and cease to pollute our planet and our oceans, even our air with incineration.
In the global scheme of 190 million tons of single-use plastic produced annually, plastic pots is a small fraction. But don’t let that make you think these efforts would be futile, they would not be. For one, every bit makes a difference. Every piece of plastic that enters our oceans or breaks down in our soil is doing damage, therefore every piece we can prevent from even existing in the first place is helping. Secondly, humans are influenced heavily by the behaviors of others around them. By rejecting the standard of using plastic you are showing that you take a stand against it. Customers will notice, then other growers will notice. You are helping to create a shift in what is considered normal in your industry. Studies have proven time and time again that by simply adopting more sustainable practices, you can influence others around you to do the same, creating a ripple effect of people forming eco-conscious habits.
We all know the concept of supply and demand. When demand for plastic pots decreases, that industry will shrink. When plastic production shrinks and consumers want more sustainable materials, both consumers and other businesses take notice. A world where demand for sustainably made products increases each and every year while the demand for single-use plastics shrinks is possible. Let’s start now.