Wood fiber from wood chip

What is wood fiber

Wood fiber is obtained from the processing of all types of wood through a physical and mechanical process of wood extrusion without chemical additives.
Wood fiber is the only biological material which, if used in place of peat, contributes to the reduction of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.

Peat has a long tradition of use in soil mixtures and growing substrates, but perhaps not everyone knows that peat bogs store carbon subtracted from the atmosphere over thousands of years: their excavation triggers the oxidation of the carbon contained, resulting in the release of CO2 (carbon dioxide) and CH4 (methane) into the atmosphere:

1ha of peat = 30t of CO2

Furthermore, the excavation of peat bogs compromises the delicate ecosystems of the peat bogs themselves.
For these reasons, many European countries have banned the extraction of peat by protecting the peat bogs as protected areas.
Peat bogs where mining is still permitted can be found today in the Baltic republics and Russia. The extracted peat is then transported by road to the countries of continental and southern Europe, generating an additional negative environmental impact.
To deal with the problem of pollution linked to the use of peat in soil mixtures, many European countries have banned the use of this material, encouraging the use of alternative materials. Among these, the most sustainable is precisely the wood fiber.
The wood fiber can be produced locally, it is not subject to long-distance transport or seasonality, as the wood from which it derives is available all year round and the user does not need large inventories.
Wood fiber has been used in floriculture for about twenty years, but it is in recent years that it has found widespread use thanks to a growing sensitivity to environmental issues and its specific technical characteristics that make it a high quality product with excellent yield:

• Reduced specific weight which lightens the mixtures

• Optimization of drainage

• High porosity

• Structural stability over time

• Promotes rooting

• Improves rewettability of substrates

• Weed free

• Easily handled and mixable

• Size on request

Wood fiber is currently used with excellent results in:

• premium soils

• universal soils

• cultivation substrates

• hydroseeding

• cultivation trials show that wood fiber is the best alternative to peat due to its ability to reduce environmental impact and to be produced at km0.

The Green Public Procurement GPP (COM 2008 400 and DM 10/804/2013) provides that trees, shrubs, bushes and herbaceous plants to be planted must be cultivated with integrated pest management techniques and using peat-free substrates, which is why it is more than the need to find sustainable production methods and materials capable of reducing the environmental impact has never been present.