Plants are not generally considered to possess special mechanisms of elimination. Photosynthetic activities of green plants, in the presence of light, produce oxygen, which diffuses out through openings in the leaves (stomata) or through the cell walls of roots and other plant structures. Excess water passes to the exterior via similar routes and is eliminated by processes of guttation (droplet exudation) and transpiration (evaporation of water from plant surfaces).

Green plants in darkness or plants that do not contain chlorophyll produce carbon dioxide and water as respiratory waste products. Carbon dioxide is secreted in the same manner as oxygen via diffusion through stomata and cell walls. Materials that are exuded by some plants—resins, saps, latexes, etc.—are forced from the interior of the plant by hydrostatic pressures inside the plant and by absorptive forces of plant cells. These forces are passive in nature, and exudation requires no energy expenditure on the part of the plant.