Growing vegetables in greenhouses, such as tomatoes and peppers, releases residual material. Currently, this residual material is largely composted or burned, while it is also suitable for making building materials. In fact, from the stems, board material can be made.
Commissioned by Alba Concepts and Building Balance, we mapped the earning capacity associated with the conversion of these aforementioned residues into building materials. Our study shows that very little to no high-value processing of these waste streams occurs and that the disposal of these waste streams , at present, even costs money. However, the processing of residuals into building materials constitutes a high-value application and is preferable to both composting and incineration, according to the waste pyramid.
Luckily, parties within the industry are now more and more interested in making value of the residual materials. From a social point of view too, processing residual material into building material is desirable because the biomass stores carbon that would be released during composting or incineration. Hence processing residual material into building material contributes positively to the climate.
Interested in the report? It can be downloaded by clicking on the image to the right.