Peat-based growing media –reliable, available, sustainable

Our corporate strategy is therefore geared towards the principles of sustainability. Important developments here include the composting of residual green waste which began over 20 years ago, certifi cation to the ISO 9001 standard ten years ago, and the launch of the ISO 14001 environmental management system in 2008. Alongside qualitative requirements, we also evaluate life cycle assessments for base materials used in substrates, making this a criterion in decisions about their use.

On the following pages we look at the issue of peat use, the subject of an ongoing debate which not only affects us as producer but which our customers are now well aware of too. Overall, the exchange of arguments has become more objective. However, we notice time and again that not all the salient facts are taken into account. In this booklet we briefl y present some important considerations: aspects that highlight how peat is essential in commercial horticulture and how it ensures the sustainable development of our customers’ businesses and our own production.

Growing media –reliable, available, sustainable

Companies are no longer judged solely by profi ts

and job security. A factor regarded as equally

important is the extent to which they are committed

to addressing the ecological and social aspects of

their own actions, keeping future generations in mind.

Peat is the most effective base for substrates

· Peat combines the properties that commercial growers expect from a growing medium

· Peat-based substrates deliver unique reliability in cultivating a wide range of crops

· Peat-based growing media of consistently high quality can be continuously produced and supplied

· After processing, the different types of peat have physical, chemical and biological properties which make them ideal for horticulture and which, overall, are unmatched by any other base material

Klasmann-Deilmann’s substrates are subject to the rigorous quality guidelines of the R.H.P. organisation (Regeling Handels Potgronden, Netherlands; www.rhp.nl).

Required properties of growing media

Physical

High structural stability

Optimum ratio between air and water capacity

Good wettability

Biological

Free from weed seeds

Free from pathogens

Chemical

Optimum pH value

Optimum nutrient levels

Good nutrient buffering

Free from harmful substances

Economic

Long-term availability

Uniform properties

Quality in line with plants’ requirements

Good value for money

Optimised weight reduces transport costs

Proportion of different base materials used ingrowing media in Germany

93.4 % black peat and white peat

2.3 % wood fibre

1.5 % green-waste compost

1.0 % composted bark

0.8 % rice husk

0.7 % coconut products

0.3 % other

Ideally, substrates need peat

· Base materials such as wood fibre, green-waste compost and coconut pith are a valuable complement to peat

· Only in combination with peat do these base materials achieve the desired horticultural effect

· Growing media without peat are less reliable in terms of crop cultivation

· Based on the current situation, doing without peat in growing media would lead to a dramatic supply gap in substrates, as alternative base materials are not available in sufficient quantities

Klasmann-Deilmann uses complementary base materials in quantities that are beneficial for plant cultivation.

Source: IVG 2011

Alternative base materialsare in short supply

· The available quantity of alternative base materials is not nearly suffi cient to produce growing media without peat in the required quantities – neither for Germany, Europe or the rest of the world

· Increasingly, important alternative base materials such as wood fi bre and green-waste compost will be in short supply and go up in price as these raw materials become more attractive for energy recovery

· Production of alternative base materials such as coco fi bre involves high inputs of energy, chemicals and labour, and these materials must then be transported long distances – this runs counter to sustainability goals

For more than ten years now, Klasmann-Deilmann has been using wood fi bre with great success as a base material in substrates. In 2010, its own production facility went into operation. The innovative production process used enables the texture of Klasmann GreenFibre, and thus its physical properties, to be precisely adjusted.

Since the early 1990s, Klasmann-Deilmann has been operating its own composting facilities at which residual green waste is recycled and processed into compost suitable for substrates. The high quality of these green-waste composts is underlined by the brand ‘TerrAktiv’.

Klasmann-Deilmann produces the base materials TerrAktiv (green-waste compost), TerrAktiv FT (fermented wood fi bre) and Klasmann GreenFibre (wood fi bre) at its own facilities.

Annual availability in Germany Advantages Disadvantages

· 400,000 m³ (and falling) · Highly suitable base material

· Must meet strict quality criteria

· Up to 30 % by volume is horticulturally useful

· High weight means high freight costs

· Relatively high salt and chloride levels

· Subject to fl uctuations in quality

· Availability sharply declining owing to use of bark for energy recovery

· Around 55,000 to 100,000 m³ for potting soils and growing media

· Highly suitable base material, provided quality criteria are met

· Ideal only in combination with peat, which compensates for its insuffi cient water capacity

· Around 90,000 to 120,000 m³ for potting soils and growing media

· Very highly suitable base material for growing media

· Can be used up to 50 % by volume

· Prices are rising because this use competes with thermal recovery

· Around 25,000 to 50,000 m³ for potting soils and growing media

· Highly suitable base material

· Peat is ideal for compensating for the insuffi cient water capacity of coco products

· Must be transported long distances

· High inputs required per unit area, high and fl uctuating salt levels and high water consumption in production

Compost for growing media

Composted bark,bark

Wood fi bre

Coconut fi bre, Coconut pith

In Germany alone, more than 9 million cubic metres of growing media and potting soils are produced every year. However, the quantity of base materials such as wood fi bre, green-waste compost, coco, composted bark etc. is less than 0.7 million cubic metres a year.

Klasmann-Deilmann has resources at its disposal that safeguard its supply of peat for decades to come.

Peat is available

· Modern commercial horticulture would be unable to produce plants successfully without peat-based growing media

· Raw peat materials are available in sufficient quantity to meet the global demand for growing media

· The large peat deposits suitable for the substrate industry are in the northern hemisphere, mainly in Scandinavia, in the Baltic region, in Ireland, in Germany and in Canada

Worldwide, there are around 4,074,000 km² of peatland, 86 % of which is in a natural state. Just under 10 % of bogs have been drained in recent decades, especially for agricultural or forestry use; the resulting peat extraction areas cover some 2,000 km² (= 0.05 % of the world’s total area of peatlands)Source: IPS 2010 Strategy for Responsible Peatland Management

Peat moss is not officially a renewable resource. However, more peat moss grows worldwide than peat is extracted. There is an annual gain of around 2 billion cubic metres of Sphagnum every year.Source: www.bth-online.org

Of all greenhouse gases emitted from degraded and intact bogs in Germany,

84 % are of agricultural origin

9 % are from unused or extensively used bogs

7 % are from peat extraction

Emissions are low

Klasmann-Deilmann’s environmental management system iscertifi ed to ISO 14001:2009. Former extraction areas are re-waterlogged and can, following regeneration, act as carbon sinks once again.

Source: leafl et on climate change, DGMT, 2009

· Intact bogs store carbon in the form of plant remains that partially break down to create peat, which makes them carbon sinks. In low quantities, the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) – products of the microbiological decomposition process – are emitted. Although these do affect the climate, they are the result of natural cyclical processes.

· By means of oxidation processes in areas used for agriculture or peat extraction, drained bogs release carbon dioxide (CO2) in increasing quantities. Carbon sinks thus become (CO2) sources.

· Restored and regenerated extraction areas can, through new plant growth and subsequent new peat formation, again store carbon and become carbon sinks.

Peatlands are restored after use

By 2009, 13,000 ha of former extraction areas had been re-waterlogged and restored by the German peat industry

It is planned to restore a total of 40,000 ha

Klasmann-Deilmann currently uses 5,800 ha of extraction areas in Lower Saxony which have been designated for after-use as follows:

4,200 ha for long-term re-waterlogging and peatland restoration

1,500 ha for agriculture

100 ha for forestry

Extraction is followed by restoration

· After peat extraction has ceased, the bulk of the former production areas are re-waterlogged and restored. The aim here is regeneration, allowing the development of typical bog landscapes in which the peat moss can grow again – and which are protected areas.

· Other former commercial peatlands are afforested, prepared for agricultural after-use or left to the process of natural succession

· In fact, it is only those extraction areas previously used by the peat industry that are restored – former bogs subject to other land-use such as agriculture tend to be permanently lost

In recent years, Klasmann-Deilmann has restored more than 2,200 hectares of former extraction areas and thus transformed them into living biotopes.

Source: IVG 2011

Klasmann-Deilmann is a member of the European Peat andGrowing Media Association (EPAGMA), the International PeatSociety (IPS) and the German Peat Society (DGMT), and supports the activities of these organisations with a view to achieving sustainability.

There are 1,043,200 ha of fenland in Germany

Fens are used not for peat production but (almost exclusively) for agriculture

There are 321,250 ha of raised bog in Germany

Of this, 26,900 ha of already degraded raised bogs is used for peat extraction = 8.4 % of the total area of raised bogs

Source: Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW), 186/08 Höper 2007

Peatlands remain intact

· In Germany, intact bogs have been designated protection areas since the 1970s and remain unaffected by peat extraction

· Raw peat materials are extracted solely in fields that were drained long ago during reclamation measures

· Peat extraction in former bogs is approved and monitored by the relevant nature conservation authorities, and is subject to stringent requirements

Klasmann-Deilmann GmbH Georg-Klasmann-Str. 2 – 10 · 49744 Geeste · Germany Tel. + 49 (0) 5937 31-0 · Fax + 49 (0) 5937 31-279 info@klasmann-deilmann.com · www.klasmann-deilmann.com

This brochure is printed on PEFC-certified paper.

PEFC/04-31-1577