GrasGoed - NGAG

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"Green residual flows - all too often called faulty green waste - consist mainly of grass, prunings, tree stumps and leaves, but these residues are often limited or even not used despite the fact that these raw materials can be used as a renewable energy source, soil improver, packaging material or animal feed. 'Grass Good - Natural Green as a Raw Material' gives nature managers, companies and knowledge institutions in the border region Flanders and the Netherlands the remains of nature management a second life. Especially in the management of wet areas (including reed land, wet grasslands, humid heathland) thousands of tons of grass clippings are released each year that are not or only to a limited extent. Not only is it difficult to pick up the clippings from the areas, but clippings are also expensive. 'GrasGoed - Natural green as raw material' therefore wants to establish sustainable chains of supply, collection, processing and marketing. The focus here is on some characteristic and natural landscapes in the border region such as Altena-Biesbosch / Vlijmens Ven (river landscape), the Zoom-Kalmthoutse Heide border park (cross-border heathland) and the Dommeldal / Valley of the Black Brook (cross-border small-scale stream valley). The project aims to bring together as much grassy biomass as possible in these three regions in order to achieve an economically interesting quantity. To this end we improve the mowing, pre-processing and transport systems. In this way, the clippings come out of nature better and can be transported dry and cheaper. We are also improving machines that destroy cell structures of the grass and separate them into fibers, proteins and cell sap. Examples are paper and cardboard, insulation material or peat-free soil from grass fibers. The protein concentrate and nutrient juice we try to use further as animal feed or soil improver. A lot of products can be developed with cuttings, but the market is still new. Within the project, we want to open up the market for regional bio-based products more and better. In the first half of the year, the main focus was on the start-up of the project, which means that important milestones have not yet been achieved. However, a great deal has already happened in the field of communication, including a project website, leaflets, banners and a well-attended start conference. As a result, the project has already received a lot of attention from relevant parties, of which several have also indicated that they want to join the project. In addition, inventories have been carried out into qualities and quantities of various nature-green flows, consideration is being given to programs of requirements for new mowing, pre-processing and transport machines and 8 potential bio-based products have been selected for which a business model will be drawn up.

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