Latest News
Forestry Investment News
Scientist claims fortune to be made in wood pulp waste
01/06/2009
Soil and land resource scientist, Sherif Fahmy, has discovered that waste pulp from wood pulp and paper mills can be used very effectively as plant fertilizer.
The discovery could mean that the waste product from pulp and paper mills could be sold for profit, instead of simply being disposed of. Thousands of tonnes of pulp waste, in Canada alone, ends up in landfill each year. This build-up produced methane gas, which can add to climate change.
Fahmy has spent years testing forestry residuals for their possible use in helping to grow a range of plants. He has concluded that pulp residue, sawdust and bark waste can all be utilised to help fertilize soil and improve growing conditions for crops. His tests showed that soil fertilized with forestry residuals demonstrated greater water retention and enhance organic content.
Fahmy says the forestry industry could make huge profits through selling waste to help grow crops. "We're sitting on a gold mine here, in my opinion," he says.
A firm called Envirem Technologies, has also begun recycling organic waste and selling it as fertilizer. In time, both Fahmy and Envirem Technologies hope that forestry residuals will replace traditional chemical fertilizers, benefitting both the environment and the forestry industry.
The discovery could mean that the waste product from pulp and paper mills could be sold for profit, instead of simply being disposed of. Thousands of tonnes of pulp waste, in Canada alone, ends up in landfill each year. This build-up produced methane gas, which can add to climate change.
Fahmy has spent years testing forestry residuals for their possible use in helping to grow a range of plants. He has concluded that pulp residue, sawdust and bark waste can all be utilised to help fertilize soil and improve growing conditions for crops. His tests showed that soil fertilized with forestry residuals demonstrated greater water retention and enhance organic content.
Fahmy says the forestry industry could make huge profits through selling waste to help grow crops. "We're sitting on a gold mine here, in my opinion," he says.
A firm called Envirem Technologies, has also begun recycling organic waste and selling it as fertilizer. In time, both Fahmy and Envirem Technologies hope that forestry residuals will replace traditional chemical fertilizers, benefitting both the environment and the forestry industry.
RSS