Turf producer use hugger-mugger cyberspace to support grass growth . dispatch the cyberspace from fully - rise turf is unmanageable , so the material often stay on in the soil , make pollution . Wageningen Food & Biobased Research and their industrial partners came up with a solution in a TKI project : a net made of biobased plastic that retain full functionality for the needed period before it starts to biodegrade .
The use of formative meshing is common in the grass industry . The big advantage for producers is that greensward can be harvested quicker this way . " The mesh facilitate transport and decoct the risk of infection of damaging the turf . It can also be harvested before , " explain Wouter Post , project manager at Wageningen Food & Biobased Research . " Because the nets get soil pollution , producers are looking for biodegradable alternatives . Existing alternative marketed under this recording label are never fully biodegradable . Net fragments or microplastics , whether visible or invisible , are always go forth behind in the environment . "
Degrading too quicklyIn the TKI projection “ Biobased biodegradable internet for horti- and agriculture ” , Post and his co-worker are working with the industrial cooperator on a fully biodegradable resolution . One of these partners is Hendriks Graszoden , a major international player who for a number of yr now has supplied the greensward used in the European and World Cup football game competitions . Biodegradable polymer that break down in ground are already uncommitted to be used in the product of net , but the job , grant to Post , is that they degrade too quickly : " The challenge : how do you make a meshwork that keep on its function for 12 to 14 month , but then soften down altogether as quickly as potential , i.e. without pass on any microplastics in the dirt ? "
BioPBS as nucleotide materialWith this missionary work in nous , the researchers started work with BioPBS in their lab . BioPBS is a bio - establish polymer made from succinic acid by the chemical company PTTMCC . Untreated , the polymer appeared to break down too quickly in the soil . Subsequently , about twenty new conceptualization were originate and test ; partly mixtures of unlike polymers , partially bioPBS to which rude stabiliser were add . " It became evident that we had to affix the mixtures with these additive , because the biodegradation pace would be too loyal otherwise . We take the best conceptualization , which were used by the Italian producer Tenax to make trial earnings . One of them , a 7,000 square beat internet , was successfully installed in Hendriks ' field in September 2020 , where grass has now depart to grow . "
change conditionsAlthough only clock time will assure whether the trial is successful – the sod needs about a year to ripen before it can be harvest – measurements so far look promising . Post emphasizes that many factors influence a net ’s biodegradation rate : " We used dirt from Hendriks for the research lab tests . But in the research laboratory , you are work under static conditions , while conditions outdoors in the field vary greatly . We already roll in the hay that the nett breaks down more slowly on fix than in the lab . And to complicate matters even more , each locating has different conditions . "
Other usesGerdien Vloet of Hendriks Graszoden look back on the project optimistically : " The party demand worked well together towards this final goal , with a tangible result : a net that eventually loses its function and is biodegrade totally . "
If the tribulation proves successful , Post believes thing can move quickly : " Hendriks has already indicated that it need to initially use the net for the cultivation of grass for the sports industriousness . "
In the meantime , he is already thinking about other applications for bioplastics that demean tardily but all : " agrarian and horticultural job are eager to use this technology . For example , we are now investigating the possibility of using this technology to grow plant plugs used for cutting . This material require a much shorter biodegration rate , which can deviate from plant life to institute . "
Champions league finalThe net on Hendriks ' fields marks an important step towards zero soil pollution . Post would be delighted if the last of the Champions League 2022 was flirt on grass mature with Wageningen technology : " That ’s one way for the Netherlands to at last be part of a Champions League terminal . "
For more info : Wageningen University & Researchwww.wur.nl
