Soil product made of recycled raw materials

Stena Recycling and Blomsterlandet have been working together for two years to develop a recipe for a more climate-smart potting soil. The tests have been carried out at the Kristianstad branch and the result is a product based on materials that have already been used in society.

“The collaboration has taught us a lot about soil production. We have developed our relationship with the municipality's supervisory authority and have been given the green light to work on a larger scale going forward. We have also received approval to process other alternative raw materials together with the compost soil,” says Oskar Håkansson, Stena Recycling Branch Manager in Kristianstad, Sweden.

The product, which is primarily intended for soil improvement and planting in gardens, uses neither peat nor natural sand, which is common in traditional soil products sold in the trade. 5,000 bags have been sold on a trial basis in Blomsterlandet's stores in Gothenburg and Stockholm.

“It is important for us to offer customers climate-smart product choices. We have learned a lot in close cooperation with Stena Recycling and have shown that there are good alternatives with recycled raw materials,” says Fredrik Östergaard, Product manager for garden accessories at Blomsterlandet.

Creating new circular values

The soil product has been made from fibre wool from Munksjö paper mill, composted garden waste from a recycling center, bark and pelleted chicken manure. The properties of the content have been examined through careful laboratory analysis and the soil product has then been evaluated by private farmers. There are many things that need to be right for a product to be attractive on the market; nutritional content, texture, range of uses, weight, price and more.

“In the project, we have openly shared our expertise to get to the finish line. Stena Recycling knows material content and can source and handle the right materials. Blomsterlandet is expert in gardening and knows everything about how consumers want to buy and use soil products,” says Alexander Lundberg, Business Developer at Stena Recycling.

Producing soil products from recycled materials is a way to meet the future where peat and natural sand cannot be used to the same extent as now. The new product can also create circular values for waste sources as well as for Blomsterlandet and its customers.

“The product is partly made from fiber wool, a process waste that would otherwise go to landfill, among other things. Now the materials live on in a new product, which is a big step up the waste hierarchy. There is plenty of fiber wool of similar quality in the industry that can be used in good soil products. We are learning a lot from the cooperation and it also makes it possible to broaden our circular offer,” concludes John Öden, KAM Paper and Pulp Industry at Stena Recycling.