Flanders has a grass problem. Not the roll-your-own kind of grass, but the grass that grows along the edges of its roads and waterways. This grass has to be cut to keep the verges clear, but the current options for disposing of the cuttings are not ideal.
Next week officials and companies will sit down to discuss an alternative: turning the grass cuttings into paper. “Every year about 72,000 tons of grass are mowed along verges of regional and municipal roads, waterways and railways,” Piet Thys of Flemish Waterways told Het Laaste Nieuws. [...]
Other options for dealing with grass cuttings, along with other kinds of green waste, are being explored through GrasGoed, an EU-funded project run by Flemish conservation group Natuurpunt. As well as paper and cardboard, this initiative is looking at options for producing nutrient-rich soil, animal feed supplements and home insulation materials.
Earlier this month, Natuurpunt announced that Regionaal Landschap Dijleland, an organisation working on nature and heritage projects in Flemish Brabant, had chosen to renovate a building it has taken over in Heverleebos with grass-based insulation material.
“Insulation mats made from grass cuttings from nature reserves are a sustainable alternative to existing mineral insulation mats,” says GrasGoed project manager Katrien Wijns. “The panels have a lambda insulation value of 0.04, they are flame retardant, and they meet all the requirements that apply in the construction sector.”
The mats have been produced by Dutch company Newfoss and Swiss company Gramitherm, using clippings from Flemish nature reserves supplied by the Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos and Natuurpunt.
