Periodic Reporting for period 2 – MOSSWOOL (Sustainable growing media for vegetable cultivation)

Periodic Reporting for period 2 – MOSSWOOL (Sustainable growing media for vegetable cultivation)

Main topic: Bio-based products, biomass supply chain
Document / search engine: Periodic Reporting for period 2 – MOSSWOOL (Sustainable growing media for vegetable cultivation)
Framework project: Sustainable growing media for vegetable cultivation
Short name of the project:
Website link:
CORDIS link if relevant: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/778341/reporting
Short description:

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project
A Finnish SME, Novarbo Oy, has developed a sustainable and cost-effective way to manufacture hydroponics growth medium Mosswool® as a sustainable, recyclable and compostable drop-in replacement for the non-biodegradable stonewool growth media for the hydroponic cultivation of vegetable crops. There is a strong desire for sustainable alternatives to stonewool and other mineral-based growing media.

The innovation is to utilize sphagnum moss, harvested in Nordic EU countries by using a new unique technique that skims only a top layer of moss. Ecological and hydrological balance of the bogs are preserved and they return to fully sphagnum covered former state within 3 years. Patented manufacturing techniques are used to fabricate Mosswool® slabs. Novarbo has built a demonstration-scale manufacturing plant and supplied test customers with Mosswool® slabs.

The overall objectives are production scale-up from pilot to demonstration plant scale, cost and eco-optimization of Mosswool® slabs and performance testing at test institutes and commercial greenhouses. Life-cycle assessment of Mosswool slabs compared to competing products have been made. Benefits of Mosswool® are communicated by augmented Novarbo’s sales network.

Conclusions of the action are that Mosswool® is a sustainable alternative for stonewool and coconut coir growing slabs. Feedback from both non-commercial testing greenhouses and commercial greenhouses has been very positive, and Mosswool® performance has been equal or better than stonewool and coconut coir.


Countries/regions described/represented: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands
Year: 2019