On behalf of the Norwegian Environment Agency, Norwaste has mapped the amount of commercially available peat-free raw materials for cultivation media.

In the autumn of 2019 Norwaste was commissioned by the Norwegian Environment Agency to study the amount of commercially available peat-free raw materials for cultivation media.The work was part of the knowledge base of the Norwegian Environment Agency's work to answer the Ministry of Climate and Environment's proposal to make a proposal for phasing out peat use by 2025 for the private market and 2030 for the professional market.the Norwegian Environment Agency's work to answer the assignment from the Ministry of Climate and the Environment to make a proposal for a plan for phasing out the use of peat by 2025 for the private market and 2030 for the professional market. The Norwegian Environment Agency The Norwegian Environment Agency has now submitted its recommendation to the Ministry of Climate and Environment with a proposal for a plan for the transition from the use of peat-based to peat-free products and proposes measures for phasing out the use of peat in the private and professional markets. and proposes instruments for phasing out the use of peat in the private and professional markets.  Norwaste's report can now be found on the Norwegian Environment Agency's website as the Norwegian Environment Agency M-1674|2020. 

The study carried out by Norwaste shows that there is sufficient access to alternative raw materials to be able to carry out a phasing out of peat. However, there is a need for testing in the professional market to ensure predictable crops and that the cultivation media give similar or better results than when cultivating in peat-based cultivation media. 

The study shows that it is likely that there will be sufficient supply of substrates of the right quality and quantity to replace peat in cultivation media to the private market during a period of 5 years. - There is still a need for development on the quality and quantity of compost products and other products based on various raw materials, says Henrik Lystad in Norwaste. - However, the development in recent years has been great and the actors in the industry have signalled that they believe in a further development of peat-free products and substrates for culture media. Also, within products for the professional market, including the horticultural industry, there is both product development and testing. Here, culture media are included as an input in production and the requirement for predictable quality and availability is extra high. 

Download: M1764 / 2020 «Commercially available peat-free raw materials for
culture media »