‘Reducing substrates’ environmental footprint goes step by step’

The 2018 figures for the professional market show a 26 per cent use of renewable raw materials; in 2022, it was 28 per cent.

Following societal and political pressure, a broad Dutch coalition coordinated by the Dutch trade body for potting soil and substrate manufacturers, VPN, set out measures to reduce the environmental impact of horticultural substrates further and faster. FCI magazine caught up with VPN boss Han de Groot to find out how the Dutch peat debate is heading, its tone, and how it may serve other countries as a model.

VPN, or Vereniging Potgrond – en Substraatfabrikanten, is the leading industry body that represents over 98 per cent of the Dutch growing media industry, making it a pivotal player in shaping the industry’s future.

VPN members are manufacturers and traders of growing media, raw materials such as peat, rockwool and non-peat substitutes such as coir, wood fibre, and green compost. These materials include the internationally operating and certified top-selling brands in growing media: Bol Peat, Bol, Kekkilä-BVB, Cultilene, Dutch Plantin, Freepeat, Grodan, Intervema, Jiffy Group, Jongkind, Klasmann-Deilmann, Legro, Lensli, Megaa Substrates, Pokon Evergreen, Primasta, Van Egmond, and Van der Knaap.

All VPN members have earned RHP Horticulture certification, the Dutch certification scheme for substrates and raw materials.

VPN works on a strategy focused on sustainability, research, and responsible production of growing media, offering a long-term perspective for the industry.

In the Netherlands alone, the total production volume of growing media in 2022 was 8.1 million m³, of which 80 per cent and 20 per cent are used in the professional grower market and amateur gardening (retail) market, respectively.

Raw peat, with a 61.5 per cent share in professional substrates, occupies pride of place, followed by coco peat (16.9 per cent), rockwool (5.4 per cent), perlite (four per cent), wood fibre (3.6 per cent) and bark (3.1 per cent). In the professional realm, peat is predominantly used in substrates to grow houseplants, perennials, nursery stock products, soft fruit, and bedding plants.

Further figures from 2022 indicate that most of the Dutch growing media (5.5 million m3) is sold domestically while 2.6 million m3 is exported with Germany (480,000 m³), Belgium 460,000 m³, France 200,000 m³, Spain (210,000 m³), and the UK (195,000 m³) being the major markets.

Major raw-peat-producing countries within Europe include Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, a small part of Poland, Finland, and Sweden. Meanwhile, Canada represents a peat powerhouse on the other side of the big pond.

Han de Groot joined VPN in 2019 as the organisation’s new director. He has robust experience in (green) trade associations and sustainability certification schemes (Groenkeur) and was co-founder of the Netherlands’ Association of Garden Centres, Tuinbranche Nederland, in 2006.

Han de Groot joined VPN in 2019 as the organisation’s new director.

FloraCulture International: When applying for the job at VPN, what interested you about the position?

Han de Groot: “One reason I got excited to apply for this role was the entrepreneurial spirit demonstrated by VPN members and their eagerness to progress. Additionally, I believe that VPN’s 17 members prioritise genuine sustainability while candidly admitting they also need to earn a living. Put differently: I would have never been up to it if the task involved had been about plain greenwashing.”

What’s your view on the health of the growing media industry in the Netherlands?

“A few general market observations: in 2021, home gardening dramatically increased during the pandemic, leading to an 8.6 million m3 peak in production volumes. Demand plateaued in 2022 following Russia’s war against Ukraine, with continuing uncertainty in 2023 due to high energy prices, inflation rates, and Houthi rebels attacking cargo ships in the Red Sea. This caused supply chain disruption for coco peat and other commodities. Fast forward to May 2024, there are a few positive signals, but uncertainty appears to be the new normal.”

Weather conditions are crucial for the peat harvest, which peaks in May, June, and July. What do your members tell you about the outlook for product quality, availability, supplies, and demand?

“Unfortunately, I do not have readily available information on that. I do know that demand for all kinds of critical raw materials, including peat, is strong. The market is virtually under constant pressure: attacks by rebels, supply chain disruption, high energy prices impacting perlite production, unwanted beetles disturbing bark sales, and adverse weather conditions. It is hard to secure the timely supply of materials.”

All stakeholders within ornamental horticulture agree that peat is a superb and unmissable raw material for growing media. Does no peat mean no horticulture?

“Peat is and remains an important raw material in terms of consistency, water and air holding properties, availability, and cost-effectiveness. Therefore, demand for peat within the horticultural sector will continue. At the same time, many renewable raw materials can be incorporated into potting mixes, of which peat is still an important ingredient.”

Yet, as climate change issues grew, the role of peat bogs as carbon stores became a new reason to campaign for peat to stay where it lies: in the ground. Championing the peat-free approach in the Netherlands is Turfvrij Nederland, led by husband-and-wife team Philipp Gramlich and Karin Bodewits, plus a former civil servant of the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture. Who are they?

“Turfvrij Nederland is in its early stages of operation as the foundation was established in 2022 as a prerequisite to participate in the covenant. Considering the difficulties we encountered getting our message across, the couple deserves credit for the speedy and efficient way they put the peat debate on the political agenda, leading to a motion in the 150-member Lower House of the Dutch Parliament to end the sale of peat for consumer use and explore ways to reduce and possibly remove peat from professional horticulture. This motion was adopted with 121 votes in favour, so it was quite an achievement. How did we perceive Turfvrij Nederland’s tone? We sometimes found the debate a bit one-sided and were disappointed that positive elements remained unmentioned. Also, claiming that disturbed peatlands account for five to eight per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions globally, thereby omitting any context, is a little disrespectful. Particularly when you consider that growing media are at the base of many things growing and providing food, health, and beauty.”

From a business perspective, the market is buoyant. Chris Blok from WUR University, in his ‘The use of renewable raw materials in growing media’ study, touts the global market for growing media as ‘highly dynamic’ and having the potential to increase four-fold between 2017 and 2050, with the highest per-continent use shifting to Asia. Among the reasons for growth cited are more wealthy people eating more fruits and vegetables, afforestation, and a worldwide focus on biodiversity, urban greening, and climate change mitigation. If growing media have all the cards, what is going wrong?

“In politics and communication from environmentalists to society, what works best is a single, short message. It reads as follows: Peat is a natural resource. The horticultural industry is unearthing nature. When the industry drains water away from peat, the vegetation decomposes much faster and releases carbon, contributing to climate change. So, the growing media industry destroys nature and causes a massive release of carbon dioxide. We are climate criminals and nature terrorists.

“Then, you have our story, which is much more complex because it goes in-depth, is scientifically based and brings nuance to the debate; we do not unearth nature. We extract peat from old peatlands in, for example, the Baltics, where there had been already drained for agricultural land use in the Soviet era. Peat extraction or not, these lands will continue to oxidise and emit carbon into the atmosphere. We harvest a thin layer of peat for horticultural use, acknowledging that this action releases carbon dioxide. Normally, this would also happen, albeit at a slower pace.

However, following harvesting, we raise the water tables and restore the peat bogs. So, in a glass-half-full approach, you can also state that instead of destroying nature, we revive it by using the peat extraction’s business model for giving thousands of hectares of peat lands back to nature.

Environmental groups frequently sustain that disturbed peatlands account for five to eight per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions globally.

Yet, the extracted areas for horticultural use represent only 0.05 per cent of global peatlands. The truth is that globally horticultural peat accounts for 0.027 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions globally. Within Europe, it is 0.11 per cent. Our industry cannot be held responsible for the thousands of hectares of peatlands used for agricultural land or forestry elsewhere in the world. All this doesn’t dismiss us from our responsibility to reduce the environmental impact of horticultural peat extraction.”

How must VPN position itself to be part of the conversations that drive policy?

“The focus must increasingly be on communication and establishing contacts with the right stakeholders. However, the market and public opinion want to move faster than lawmakers and covenants. So, we urge our members to address the issue proactively. We are a transformative business but need time, money, research, and patience. We will continue to tell the right story, emphasising our efforts to reduce the environmental impact of growing media by the use of renewable raw materials and (Responsibly Produced Peat) RPP-certified peat manufacturers. Replacing peat is not our goal.”

On 18 November 2022, the VPN was one of the 15 signatories of the Dutch ‘Environmental impact of potting soil and substrates’ covenant. What did it entail?

“The coalition announced a set of goals for 2025, 2030 and 2050. For 2025, the objective is to increase the use of renewable raw materials by an average of 35 per cent and 60 per cent in the professional grower market and the amateur gardening (retail) market, respectively and to double the use of compost to 600,000 m3. The coalition partners also agreed to use RPP-certified only. For 2030, the aim for the professional grower market is an average of 50 per cent renewable raw materials and in 2050 even 90 per cent.”

Which goals are the most challenging and why?

“The quickest wins are in the amateur gardening market, where green compost, bark, and wood fibre use significantly increased. Post-pandemically, the world re-opened to travelling with RPP certification of the major manufacturers of growing media gaining traction. However, the 2018 figures for the professional market show a 26 per cent use of renewable raw materials; in 2022, it was 28 per cent. So everyone will understand that much work still needs to be done. The most challenging part is improving renewable raw materials’ quality, safety, and availability. This requires additional research. Competing demand for raw materials is also an issue. Here, government leadership is needed.”

Fast forward to April 2024, how has the covenant benefited the growing media industry in the Netherlands?

“We are now in a situation where businesses, the government, and NGOs are working together. More mutual respect? At times, yes, sometimes no. We are still testing the waters, but we are confident that we will understand each other better through more collaboration. But Rome wasn’t built in one day. Using renewable raw materials increases the risk of contamination with human and plant pathogens, pesticide residues and heavy metals, leading to claims. Critics underline that circularity means preserving nature, and much trouble as contaminants will be sustained once they have been introduced into the supply chain.”

In the slipstream of the Dutch covenant, a German coalition coordinated by the Federal Association of Horticulture (ZVG) and the industry body for horticultural supplies and substrates (IVG) has published a position paper to go further and faster to reduce the environmental impact of horticultural peat. What’s next for Europe?

“We are happy that FCI magazine addresses the growing media theme because it is relevant not only in the Netherlands but also in parts of the EU and the UK and, in the near future, will be on a more global scale.

When discussing the growing media issue with green professionals, they frequently tell me that Brussels is imposing on them. The truth is, there is no European law regulating the production, sourcing, and trade of peat. However, several peat and raw materials-related dossiers exist, including the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Nature Restoration Law, and the Green Claims Directive.

“On the European level, we see that in the UK, Defra proposed a ban on the professional use of peat with limited exemptions in 2026 and a ban on all professional use of horticultural peat in 2030. However, the UK government doesn’t seem to care about moving the goalposts.

Non-EU Norway has no law on growing media and focuses primarily on peat reduction. Interestingly, peat exporting powerhouse Ireland has many restrictions on peat extraction and no regulations or laws for peat use. In Switzerland, peat bog protection has been enshrined in the Constitution since 1987. Peat is no longer an issue in the Swiss hobby substrate sector. All bagged compost has been peat-free for several years. Swiss production has been virtually peat-free for some time in cultivating perennials and shrubs. We hope that the Dutch covenant will lead to more harmonised ambitions within Europe with the less environmental impact of substrates. In the current situation, there are non-Dutch peat manufacturers that supply Dutch growers without having signed the covenant, and this creates an unlevel playing field.”

What would be your message to your members?

“Continue on the path you embarked on and take your sustainability journey very seriously. As an industry, we must live up to our agreements and responsibilities. Exciting and sometimes uncertain times lie ahead. However, the importance of good, safe, and sustainable substrates continues to increase.”

This article was first featured in the May 2024 issue of FloraCulture International.