soil

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How to avoid plastics entering in soils?

Plastics is not only a problem for our oceans caused by lack of suitable waste management on other continents. Even in Europe, plastic waste is entering the environment. How to avoid plastic entering soils? One important source of input is compost from polluted bio-waste mostly due to incorrect sorting by the waste producer, i.e. households. Compost is an important material that improves the structure and fertility of soils serving also as a sink for CO2. Therefore, the answer is: Bio-waste should be free of plastics! But how do we achieve this goal? Yasmin Eger, one of Henning Friege’s Master Students, investigated which measures or combinations of measures are best suitable to reduce the rate of misplaced materials in the organic waste. She performed structured interviews with responsible persons whose municipalities extensively collect separately bio-waste since years and have a low rate of unwanted materials. The respective necessary measures are presented by Henning Friege and Yasmin Eger in an article that has just been published in a scientific journal.

More information on plastic in soils is available in another blog on our website.

How to avoid plastics entering in soils? Read More »

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A Better Strategy for Protecting Our Soils!

N³ is collaborating with other experts to develop a strategy for the better protection of our soils. Our client is the German Environment Agency. Public perception often undervalues the importance of soil compared to climate or water. However, soil plays a critical role in our lives: it’s what we live on and what we live from. The soil should continue to produce enough food, serve as a water reservoir and filter for pollutants, process leaves into humus. All these functions depend on a healthy soil ecosystem. The biodiversity of our soils is remarkably diverse. Nothing works without the diversity of soil organisms!

A Better Strategy for Protecting Our Soils! Read More »

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Plastic in the Soil – Danger or Scaremongering?

“Plastics in the environment – a problem for our soils or just a false alarm?” was the focus of a recent expert conference organized by the Commission for Soil Protection at the German Environmental Agency (UBA). We were happy to have over 300 participants – a small record for this conference. The conference was coordinated by N³ in collaboration with our colleagues from the German Federal Environment Agency and our project team as part of our ongoing soil protection project. All presentations, as well as a brief summary of the results, can be found here. Special thanks to our speakers, moderators, and all who contributed to the discussion!

Plastic in the Soil – Danger or Scaremongering? Read More »