To meet certification standards on its farms, Chiquita has worked to protect forest preserves,
plant buffer zones of trees along waterways, recycle the large blue
plastic bags used to cover bunches of ripening bananas, and improve
facilities for workers.
Natural gas liquids (NGLs) ethane and propane get extracted and sent to a «cracking
facility» where ethane is made into ethylene (the foundation of polyethylene - the most common
plastic in the world, frequently used for packaging, bottles, and synthetic clothing), and at a dehydrogenation
plant, propane is made into propylene (the foundation of polypropylene - a
plastic commonly found in food packaging and vehicle manufacturing).