One of the biggest questions in agriculture is how to recycle waste material . Whether it ’s dripping tape , mulch flick , glasshouse bay window , or growing metier , each ware has been challenged to find a raw life after being used by growers . The average recycling rate in the US is just around 30 % , according to the EPA . This includes traditionally reprocess fabric , residential consumer - class materials such as polyethylene terephthalate , " formative bottles , " and cardboard . Because of these infrastructure limitation , agriculture product have an integration challenge with recycling . This is especially true for materials like stone fleece that are already distinct in cultivation environment .
To reply this challenge , Grodan has been in collaboration with the leading farming recycler in Canada to provide an machine-driven and modern rock wool recycling option for growers throughout the province of Ontario . Grodan and Walker Industries have worked together for the past five years to help bring an modern solution to the marketplace .
At Walker ’s Alltreat Farms readiness , they have developed an automate processing line capable of withdraw plastic promotional material , squash rock woolen blocks and slab , and decontaminate the textile of viruses , bacterium , and other residuum . Together , we have processed and recycle 10,000 tons of Harlan Fisk Stone wool through Walker Industries ' facilities across Ontario . The ending intersection : a high - course potting mix sold to retailers for personal and commercial-grade use .
Agriculture waste direction challengesA number of factor present challenges for agricultural recycling , include :
How Walker Industries and Grodan developed stone wool recycling in Ontario , CanadaIn December 2022 , Walker Industries showcased how it solved many of these challenges in a particular exposition at Alltreat Farms , where it is recycling stone wool substrate used by local greenhouses . Attendees let in representative from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture , Food , & Rural Affairs and local environmental officials , as well as the participating nursery growers .
The automated recycling operation at the Alltreat Farms facilities is the result of class of collaborative inquiry and testing between Walker and Grodan to create a reliable , scalable process for repurposing stone wool . It starts with Grodan ’s systematically growing media ware that are as easy to transport post - harvesting as when they first amount off the manufacturing argumentation , thanks to their unvarying sizes and shapes .
Walker uses a custom , automated de - packaging system for Grodan blocks and slab to classify the growing media from its credit card wrap . From there , the Harlan Fisk Stone woollen is motley with wood chips and other organics and then tear up into fine particles . After the fabric leaves the de - packaging line , it is separate into windrows ( motionless sight used for dynamic composting ) . Walker uses the in style GORE cover for wasteland treatment to aid ensure inner temperature in the windrows are elevate to effectively destroy any pathogen , such as harmful germ , bacteria , and computer virus that may be present .
After the compost windrow is properly sterilized , the result mixed cloth is communicate to a promotional material line to be bagged and sell as high - end pot soil to the retail mart alongside traditional residential and commercial-grade organic barren streams . The Alltreat Farms automatise manufacturing process bring forth over 26 bags of 13.5 kg pot soil per minute over 18 hours a day . That ’s over 85,000 kg of potting dirt that ’s sold to growers throughout Canada .
Innovations to recycle stone woolAn effective , high - yield automated recycling logical argument like this does n’t just find overnight . Seemingly mere challenges can have major encroachment on a full - scale surgery . For example , many seasonal greenhouse glean in the tardy fall and wintertime when temperature are dropping well below freeze . This temperature drop causes the root balls to immobilise and harden , placing expensive equipment at risk of jamming or break .
Finding a way through complex logistical challenge and regulatory landscapes is not as simple as , say , pitching an old Gro - Block in the trash after harvest . But build up unexampled and modern recycling solutions is crucial if we are to ramp up a sustainable agrarian manufacture — and future - proof Agriculture Department as a whole through mood - smart pattern .
Grodan work inexhaustibly to propel recycling capability and has developed an ever - expanding internet of recycling service providers that accept post - harvest mineral wool in North America and worldwide . As the greenhouse industry across North America continues to diversify and as environmental recycling mathematical group memorize more of the potential grocery for post - harvest mineral woollen media , more and more facilities will join in the accomplishments . For more selective information : Grodanwww.grodan.com
