Defra project

Monitoring the horticultural use of peat and progress towards the UK Biodiversity Action

Plan target (SP08020)

July 2010

Contents

1.0 Executive summary 1 1.2 Project scope and methodology 1 1.3 Supply of peat and alternatives in 2009 1 1.4 Trends in the supply of peat and alternatives 1999 to 2009 1 2.0 Introduction 2 2.1 Background 2 2.2 Peat and alternative materials 2 2.3 Horticultural market sectors 3 2.4 Producers of growing media and soil improvers 4 3.0 Project objectives and scope 4 4.0 Methodology 4 4.1 Data collection 4 4.1.1 Peat and the main alternatives 4 4.1.2 Green compost 5 4.1.3 Spent mushroom compost 5 4.1.4 General comments on data collection 5 4.2 Data management 5 5.0 Supply of peat and alternative products 6 5.1 Total supply of materials to all market sectors in 2009 6 5.2 Trends in material use 1999 – 2009 8 5.2.1 Main trends 10 5.2.2 Trends by sector 12 5.3 Sources of peat 12 5.4 Usage of peat at country level in the UK 14 5.5 Use of alternative materials 14 5.6 Quantity of peat and other materials imported into the UK as growing

media in container grown ornamental plants 16

6.0 Conclusions 17 7.0 Appendices 18 8.0 References 19

1

1.0 Executive summary 1.1 Introduction The UK Government has been committed to reducing peat use, most recently under the Biodiversity Action Plan. Data on the use of peat and peat alternatives has been gathered since 1993 to assist Government and the UK horticultural industry in tracking progress on peat reduction targets. Prior to 1999, monitoring was of the use of materials in three markets: amateur gardening, local authorities and landscaping. Since 1999, monitoring also included professional growing media. 1.2 Project scope and methodology As in previous years, the 2009 survey set out to obtain data from the manufacturers of growing media and soil improver products. Soil improvers are included in this study for continuity, although producers of spent mushroom compost that supply direct to these markets were not re-surveyed and 2005 data are used in this report. 30 growing media / soil improver manufacturers and 129 compost manufacturers were contacted (using a specifically designed survey form) and response rates of 90% and 73% respectively (of companies supplying more than 500 m

3 of product per year) were

achieved. The co-operation of manufacturers is gratefully acknowledged as without their significant input in supplying data for the project it would not be possible to have such confidence in the aggregated data. 1.3 Supply of peat and alternatives in 2009 The total volume of peat and alternatives used in horticultural growing products (soil improvers and growing media) was 6,975,100 m

3, an increase from 6,608,400 m

3 in

2007. The overall proportion of peat in the products fell from 46% in 2007 to 42% in 2009. The greatest usage of peat was by amateur gardeners (69% of the total peat used by all sectors). The total market for all materials was split between soil improvers at 40% and growing media at 60%. Of the total peat used, 99% was in growing media and only 1% was used in soil improver products. 1.4 Trends in the supply of peat and alternatives 1999 to 2009 Figure 1 shows that the amount of alternative materials used has risen steadily whilst the volume of peat used has steadily declined from 2005 to 2009. The volume of peat used in 2009 was 2,963,200 m

3.

Figure 1 Combined use of peat and alternatives in all sectors 1999-2009 (‘000 m

3)

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The use of peat in soil improver products has virtually ceased and green compost use has increased in this market. Figure 2 Peat and peat alternatives volumes, and the proportion of peat, in amateur growing media 1999-2009

Figure 2 shows that the rate of change from 2005 to 2007 was greater than that between 2007 and 2009.

2.0 Introduction 2.1 Background Defra has been collecting information on the use of peat and alternative materials in the UK horticultural markets since 1993. This has allowed monitoring of trends in peat reduction. Peat extraction remains an issue for biodiversity, but is increasingly being recognised as a significant contributor nationally and internationally to the emission of carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas). The UK Biodiversity Action Plan set a target that by 2005 40% of the total market requirement for soil improvers and growing media would be supplied by non-peat materials (which was met), and by 2010 this would be 90%. The data from this monitoring exercise (based on sales in 2009) provides information on the volumes of peat and non-peat materials used by the four main horticultural sectors – amateur gardeners, professional growers, landscapers and local authorities and builds upon previous surveys. Information is mainly collected from the manufacturers supplying these markets, but supplemented with a separate survey of the wider supply of green compost, which is often supplied in bulk direct to end users. The study obtains reliable information on the types of materials used by the four sectors in all growing media and soil improver products (including surface mulches), to maintain consistency with previous monitoring exercises. 2.2 Peat and alternative materials Peat-based products have proven performance and consistency, have good availability, and storage characteristics, are competitively priced and growers / gardeners are familiar with their management. Peat has been an excellent growing medium and became the dominant material for growing media formulation in the 1970s, replacing the loam based ‘John Innes’ growing media.

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Amateur growing media have, until recently, been based on almost 100% peat. Manufacturers have made significant investments in the development of alternatives to peat in recent years and bagged retail growing media are now mostly ‘reduced peat’, with typically up to 30% dilution with other materials. A range of peat-free products are also now available. Professional growers have different quality requirements because they have to produce large numbers of uniform grade plants to production schedules. A number of growers now use ‘reduced peat’ growing media, particularly those supplying the large retail chains, most of which are committed to reducing dependence on peat. The main alternatives to peat used in growing media are timber industry by -products (such as bark and wood fibre), coir fibre dust (a by-product of coir fibre production for ropes, matting etc.) and green compost (from composting of source segregated organic materials). Loam, the main constituent of traditional ‘John Innes’ growing media, is also used in some blends. The most widely used soil improver product in the UK is bark, which is used as a surface mulch in the landscaping and amateur gardening sectors. Green compost is gaining popularity as a soil improver in the landscape secto r. The creation of ‘artificial’ topsoils for landscaping use has increased in recent years and data on the amount of green compost (but not the associated soil) used for this purpose has been collected and amalgamated into soil improver data for this project. 2.3 Horticultural market sectors The market for soil improvers and growing media in the UK encompasses four main sectors: (a). Amateur gardeners: The main growing media products bought by amateur gardeners are ‘multi-purpose compost’, used for raising plants and filling tubs and baskets, and ‘grow-bags’ used for growing tomatoes and other vegetables. Amateur gardeners also buy bagged soil improver products and mulching m aterials mostly via large retail chains. (b). Professional growers: Professional growers often obtain their products or materials from the same producers who supply the amateur market, but the market is more specialised with growers using particular formulations according to the crops grown and their growing systems. A number of growers still mix their own growing media on site but most buy ready to use growing media manufactured by specialist companies. (c). Private sector landscapers: Landscapers use large quantities of soil improvers for the amelioration of soil following development and construction work. Materials are usually purchased in bulk direct from producers or wholesalers. This sector mostly uses soil improver products such as planting composts and mulches, generally purchased in bulk loads. (d). Local authority grounds maintenance: The local authority market used to be more significant when most councils had their own nurseries to raise plants for their own use but this has declined and much of this activity is now contracted out. Most consumption nowadays of relevant materials by local authorities is for soil improvement, although a few still have their own nursery operations growing bedding and other plants.

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2.4 Producers of growing media and soil improvers The supply of growing media and soil improver products sold to amateur gardeners is dominated by a few large manufacturers who can service the national distribution requirements of the large retail chains. Professional growing media supply is also mainly from a relatively small number of manufacturers who can source the right quality of raw materials and invest in the sophisticated mixing equipment used. The number of UK growing media producers is reducing as margins have become smaller and competition from imported products increases. Some producers have considerable capital assets in the form of peat reserves but many have also invested in recent years to increase the use of peat alternatives. The major manufacturers of growing media supplying the UK markets have been traditionally located remote from the end user, for example in the north-west of England, Somerset, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. These locations are often not ideal logistically if the emphasis changes from peat use to other materials, for example materials imported via cargo ships. New growing media companies that have emerged in recent years have located near to their own locally sourced materials, for example those using green compost as a major ingredient. Significant volumes of raw materials for growing media are imported into the UK, particularly for professional growing media products, for example peat, pine bark, coir and wood fibre. Imported peat from the Republic of Ireland is particularly significant .

3.0 Project objectives and scope The project objectives for the 2009 peat monitoring exercise were:

To identify the total supply of peat and alternatives in 2009, the data broken down according to use in growing media or soil improvers and the sector of use.

To obtain estimates on sources of peat to UK country level (whilst maintaining the confidentiality of participating companies).

To obtain estimates on the supply of peat to a UK country level.

To estimate the volume of peat used in the production of ornamental plants imported into the UK from other countries.

4.0 Methodology 4.1 Data collection Data for 2009 was collected using the same methodology as for 2007. Participating producers were asked to supply data for 2009 via a purpose designed survey form on the volumes of materials supplied separately to each of the four markets (amateur gardeners, local authorities, landscapers and professional growers ) with the data further sub-divided as soil improvers and growing media. 4.1.1 Peat and the main alternatives All growing media and soil improver producers were contacted by letter and as required by telephone during April 2010 seeking their agreement to participate. Information was sought on the supply of peat and the main alternatives to peat incl uding bark, green compost, wood fibre, coir, loam and a wide range of minor raw materials. Additionally, producers were asked to give information on the country of origin of both peat and bark.

5

27 out of 30 growing media producers (90% response), supplied data on the materials sent to each of the markets which they supplied during 2009. Three manufacturers had to provide estimates based on their 2007 calculation rather than exact calculated volumes for 2009 because of the short time-scale for this particular monitoring exercise undertaken during a busy time of the year for the businesses. Confidence in the reliability of the data is still high, however, since none of the major companies were omitted from the survey list. 4.1.2 Green compost A comprehensive list of green compost producers was compiled based on data from the Association for Organics Recycling and 2007 survey databases. Contact information within each of the producer organisations was checked by telephoning and a letter was e-mailed along with the survey form to each of the producers in April 2010. A total of 249 sites belonging to 191 organisations were contacted. By early June 2010, responses were gained for 183 sites (73%) f rom 129 organisations (68%) with data from 2007 used for 20 sites bringing the total to 203 sites (82%). Of the non-responding companies, many were smaller, farm-only operations and the total material accounted for is estimated to be over 90% of the potential market. 4.1.3 Spent mushroom compost Data on the bulk supply of spent mushroom compost direct to landscapers were previously obtained for 2005 in a separate survey (Appendix 1). As the amounts of this material are relatively small compared with the other materials surveyed and changes likely to be insignificant, this survey of the bulk supply of spent mushroom compost was not requested for 2009. The 2005 data have therefore been used in this report. Spent mushroom compost used in bagged soil improver products sold by the manufacturers of soil improvers and growing media was included in the 2009 survey. 4.1.4 General comments on data collection Steps were taken to avoid double counting of materials where they are supplied via intermediaries within the growing media and landscaping industries. The quantitative information gathered for growing media is based on materials which are mainly supplied as branded products by established suppliers operating at national or regional level. However, there are materials supplied into the soil improver market on a local basis for which no reliable data are available such as compost produced at home by gardeners and farmyard manure / stable manure used on allotments. 4.2 Data management The data collected are commercially sensitive and so steps were taken to ensure confidentiality through the use of coded forms and aggregation of data. Data gathered by SKM Enviros and ADAS were independently amalgamated for the compost producers and the growing media producers, respectively. Steps to minimise the risk of double counting of materials were taken through close liaison between SKM Enviros and ADAS. Where green compost data was supplied in tonnes, this was converted to cubic metres using a conversion factor of 0.6 kg/m

3, as in previous years.

6

5.0 Supply of peat and alternative products 5.1 Total supply of materials to all market sectors in 2009 In 2009, the total consumption of peat and alternative materials used in all four sectors was 6,975,100 m

3 of which 2,963,200 m

3 was peat (42%) and 4,011,900 m

3 (58%) was

alternative materials (Table 1). Soil improvers accounted for 40% of the materials used (2,766,200 m

3) and growing

media for 60% (4,208,900 m3), this is similar to previous years.

The majority of the volume of growing media was made up of peat, with 30% of the total volume being alternatives. Conversely only 1% of the materials used as soil improvers were peat. The amateur gardening sector used the most peat; Table 1 indicates that most of this was in the form of growing media products (amounting to 2 ,030,200 m

3 of

peat). The proportion of the total peat consumption that is used by amateur gardeners has gradually increased from 66% of the total during the period 1999 to 2005 to 69% of the total during 2007 to 2009. Table 2 shows the level for 2009 is 69.4%.

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Table 1 Summary of material supplied to all sectors of the UK horticultural market in 2009 (‘000 m

3)

Market sector Soil improvers Growing

media Total

Amateur gardening

Peat 24.8 2,030.2 2,055.0

Alternatives 1,183.7 938.4 2,122.1

Sub-Total 1,208.4 2,968.7 4,177.1

% Peat 2% 68% 49%

Local authority

Peat 0.7 1.7 2.4

Alternatives 243.1 5.9 249.0

Sub-Total 243.8 7.6 251.4

% Peat 0.3% 22% 1.0%

Landscaping

Peat 8.2 0.3 8.5

Alternatives 1,305.7 58.7 1,364.5

Sub-Total 1,314.0 59.0 1,373.0

% Peat 0.6% 0.5% 0.6%

Professional growers

Peat 0.0 897.3 897.3

Alternatives 0.0 276.3 276.3

Sub-Total 0.0 1173.6 1173.6

% Peat 76% 76%

Total market

Peat 33.7 2,929.5 2,963.2

Alternatives 2,732.5 1,279.4 4,011.9

Total 2,766.2 4,208.9 6,975.1

% Peat 1.2% 70% 42%

Table 2 Consumption of peat and alternatives by each market sector in 2009 (percentage of total consumption)

Market sector Peat Alternatives

Amateur gardeners 69.4% 52.9%

Local authorities 0.1% 6.2%

Landscape contractors 0.2% 34.0%

Professional growers 30.3% 6.9%

5.2 Trends in material use 1999 – 2009

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The trends of material use by market sector and material use as soil improvers and growing media for 1999-2009 are presented in Tables 3, 4 and 5. Table 3 Trend of material use by market sector 1999 - 2009 (‘000 m

3)

1999 2001 2005 2007 2009

Amateur gardeners

Peat 2,269.9 2,241.2 2,283.1 2,077.0 2,055.0

Alternatives 695.3 1,003.6 1,509.2 1,858.6 2,122.1

Sub-Total 2,965.2 3,244.8 3,792.3 3,935.5 4,177.1

% Peat 77% 69% 60% 53% 49%

Local authority

Peat 14.0 25.3 10.2 7.3 2.4

Alternatives 189.5 142.1 151.5 209.7 249.0

Sub-Total 203.5 167.4 161.6 217.0 251.4

% Peat 7% 15% 6% 3% 1.0%

Landscaping

Peat 9.4 12.5 9.8 10.6 8.5

Alternatives 949.6 1,043.3 1,081.3 1,318.2 1,364.5

Sub-Total 959.0 1,055.8 1,091.1 1,328.8 1,373.0

% Peat 1.0% 1.2% 0.9% 0.8% 0.6%

Professional growers

Peat 1,140.0 1,116.1 1,133.0 917.5 897.3

Alternatives 61.8 100.7 277.8 209.7 276.3

Sub-Total 1,201.8 1,216.8 1,410.7 1,127.1 1,173.6

% Peat 95% 92% 80% 81% 76%

Total market – all four sectors

Peat 3,433.3 3,395.1 3,436.0 3,012.3 2,963.2

Alternatives 1,896.2 2,289.7 3,019.8 3,596.1 4,011.9

Total 5,329.5 5,684.8 6,455.8 6,608.4 6,975.1

% Peat 64% 60% 53% 46% 42%

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Table 4 Trend of material use for soil improvers by market sector 1999 - 2009 (‘000 m

3)

1999 2001 2005 2007 2009

Amateur gardeners

Peat 138.4 111.0 134.3 33.4 24.8

Alternatives 557.2 814.1 1,107.1 1,056.1 1,183.7

Sub-Total 695.6 925.1 1,241.4 1,089.6 1,208.4

% Peat 20% 12% 11% 3% 2%

Local authority

Peat 0.2 0.1 6.5 5.7 0.7

Alternatives 185.7 125.4 145.5 204.3 243.1

Sub-Total 185.9 125.5 151.9 210.0 243.8

% Peat 0.1% 0.1% 4% 3% 0.3%

Landscaping

Peat 6.4 1.0 6.3 10.3 8.2

Alternatives 944.0 1,003.5 1,055.9 1,262.6 1,305.7

Sub-Total 950.4 1,004.5 1,062.2 1,272.9 1,314.0

% Peat 0.7% 0.1% 0.6% 0.8% 0.6%

Professional growers

Peat 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Alternatives 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Sub-Total 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

% Peat

Total market – all four sectors

Peat 145.0 112.1 147.1 49.4 33.7

Alternatives 1,686.9 1,943.0 2,308.4 2,523.1 2,732.5

Total 1,831.9 2,055.1 2,455.5 2,572.5 2,766.2

% Peat 8% 6% 6% 2% 1.2%

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Table 5 Trend of material use for growing media by market sector 1999 - 2009 (‘000 m

3)

1999 2001 2005 2007 2009

Amateur gardeners

Peat 2,131.5 2,130.2 2,148.8 2,043.5 2,030.2

Alternatives 138.1 189.5 402.1 802.4 938.4

Sub-Total 2,269.6 2,319.7 2,550.9 2,846.0 2,968.7

% Peat 94% 92% 84% 72% 68%

Local authority

Peat 13.8 25.2 3.7 1.6 1.7

Alternatives 3.8 16.7 6.0 5.4 5.9

Sub-Total 17.6 41.9 9.7 7.0 7.6

% Peat 78% 60% 38% 23% 22%

Landscaping

Peat 3.0 11.5 3.5 0.3 0.3

Alternatives 5.6 39.8 25.4 55.6 58.7

Sub-Total 8.6 51.3 28.9 55.9 59.0

% Peat 35% 22% 12% 0.6% 0.5%

Professional growers

Peat 1,140.0 1,116.1 1,133.0 917.5 897.3

Alternatives 61.8 100.7 277.8 209.7 276.3

Sub-Total 1,201.8 1,216.8 1,410.7 1,127.1 1,173.6

% Peat 95% 92% 80% 81% 76%

Total market – all four sectors

Peat 3,288.3 3,283.0 3,289.0 2,962.9 2,929.5

Alternatives 209.3 346.7 711.3 1,073.0 1,279.4

Total 3,497.6 3,629.7 4,000.3 4,036.0 4,208.9

% Peat 94% 90% 82% 73% 70%

5.2.1 Main trends The total volume of all materials supplied to the four main horticultural market sectors increased marginally from 6,608,400 m

3 in 2007 to 6,975,000 m

3 in 2009 (Table 3). The

largest increase was in the amateur gardening sector with the use of professional grower materials fairly static over the last 10 years. Peat accounted for 42% of the total materials used in 2009, as compared to 46% in 2007. All of the horticultural sectors have reduced the proportion of peat in total materials use d since 1999 (Figure 3).

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Figure 3 Trend in total usage of peat in each market sector and the total market 1999 – 2009

The growing media market is the most important in relation to the overall trends in peat usage because 99% of peat is now used in growing media products, mainly for plant growing by amateur gardeners and professional growers. Soil improvers are most ly based on non-peat materials (Table 4). The average peat usage in growing media has declined from 73% in 2007 to 70% in 2009 (Table 5 and Figure 4). The volume of peat used has also reduced slightly since 2007. Figure 4 Trend in usage of peat in growing media in each market sector and the total market 1999 – 2009

5.2.2 Trends by sector

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(a). Trends in amateur gardening usage The introduction of ‘reduced peat’ formulations by many growing media manufacturers has increased the proportion of non-peat materials in these products. The use of alternative materials has increased from 28% of the total growing media volume in 2007 to 32% in 2009. (b). Trends in local authority usage The local authority usage of peat has remained very low at 2,400m

3. The few local

authorities still producing plants in growing media have reduced peat use to only 2 2 % of the total growing media used. (c).Trends in landscape contractor usage The landscape market uses a significant percentage of all soil improver materials (4 8%), predominantly as surface mulches. This sector uses very little peat. (d). Trends in professional grower usage The peat content of the professional growing media market in 2009 was 76% compared with 81% in 2007. This reflects the fact that growers who supply large retail chains have moved to 20-30% peat dilution as required by the retailers. 5.3 Sources of peat As with previous years, around half the peat used in the UK during 2009 originated from the Republic of Ireland. Northern Europe supplied 7% of the peat, mostly from the Baltic States and most of this was used in professional growing media (Table 6). The volume of UK sourced peat has fallen to 0.94 million m

3. The largest percentage of this

was harvested from England, but with significant supply from both Scotland and Northern Ireland (negligible amounts from Wales). Figure 5 shows that total peat usage has declined since 2005 and in recent years the proportion of UK peat has reduced. There are still fluctuations in peat availability from the various producer areas from year to year however due to the prevailing local weather conditions prior to and during peat harvesting. For example, the wet summers of 2007 to 2009 reduced the peat supply in 2009 and resulted in a price increase or material substitution within growing media. Figure 5 Volume of peat used by source

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Table 6 Sources of peat supplied to all horticultural markets in 1999 - 2009 (‘000 m³)

Source: Year Soil improvers

Growing media

Total

UK 1999 50.6 1154.3 1,204.9

2001 36.0 1,486.0 1,522.0

2005 40.7 1,254.9 1,295.5

2007 39.1 1,269.3 1,308.4

2009 23.6 918.6 942.1

Republic of 1999 91.8 1,691.0 1,782.8

Ireland 2001 59.0 1,422.0 1,481.0

2005 103.2 1,835.5 1,938.7

2007 10.2 1,612.5 1,622.7

2009 10.1 1,768.3 1,778.4

Northern Europe 1999 2.7 442.9 445.6

2001 17.1 375.0 392.1

2005 3.2 198.6 201.8

2007 0.2 81.1 81.3

2009 0.0 242.6 242.6

Total 1999 145.1 3,288.2 3,433.3

2001 112.1 3,283.0 3,395.1

2005 147.1 3,289.0 3,436.0

2007 49.4 2,962.9 3,012.3

2009 33.7 2,929.5 2,963.2

Figure 6 Volume of peat by source compared with 1999 baseline for each source

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Figure 6 shows that if the volume of peat used in 1999 is taken as the baseline the percentage of the peat from UK sources compared to imported peat has changed from year to year. 5.4 Usage of peat at country level in the UK Discussions with a major national supplier suggest that the use of growing media materials (and hence the use of peat) is split between the UK countries in the following way:

England 80%

Scotland 10%

Wales 5%

Northern Ireland 5% This is a reflection of the relative concentrations of population (and hence gardeners) and horticultural enterprises at country level within the UK, especially container grown ornamentals and soft fruit businesses. 5.5 Use of alternative materials The use of alternative materials in growing media products has continued to increase. In terms of volume, the biggest changes in total market use (soil improvers and growing media) in 2009 were in the increased use of manufactured wood fibre (up by 269%), coir (up by 154%), loam (increase of 39%) and green compost (up by 20%). Table 7 Supply of alternative materials to all sectors of the horticulture market in 2009 (‘000 m³)

Material

Quantity of material Percentage change

since 2007 Soil

improvers Growing

media Total

Bark 1,486.9 404.2 1,891.1 -3

Green compost 887.8 333.4 1,221.2 20

Loam 18.8 178.0 196.7 39

Spent mushroom compost 302.5 0.0 302.5 11

Wood waste 5.1 10.0 15.0 -9

Cocoa shell 3.2 1.0 4.2 -46

Coir 0.1 79.8 80.0 154

Brash 2.0 0.8 2.8 -65

Wood fibre 0.0 202.0 202.0 269

Others 26.2 70.3 96.4 -5

Total 2,732.6

(68%)

1,279.5

(32%)

4,011.9 12

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Table 8 Alternative material use in soil improvers and growing media in 2009

Material Percentage of total use

that is used in soil improvers

Percentage of total use that is used in growing

media

Bark 79% 21%

Green compost 73% 27%

Loam 10% 90%

Spent mushroom compost 100% 0%

Wood waste 34% 66%

Cocoa shell 76% 24%

Coir 0% 100%

Brash 72% 28%

Wood fibre 0% 100%

Others 27% 73%

Total 68% 32%

Table 7 shows the supply of the main alternative materials to each end -user market sector in 2009 and the change since 2007. The type of alternative materials used by the different sectors is related to the products being used, i.e. soil improvers or growing media (Table 8). The vast majority of bark is used as a mulching material by amateur gardeners and landscapers (bark usage figures and information on the source of the bark can be found in Appendix 2).

Green compost is mainly used as a soil improver by landscapers but use of this material in growing media (mainly amateur gardening products) has increased. Coir is mostly used by professional growers, primarily in the protected strawberry sector where plants are often grown in bags. Loam is mainly used in growing media; its use in soil improvers has largely been replaced by green compost. The different materials used in the manufacture of amateur and professional growing media are shown in Table 9. Table 9 Raw materials used in the amateur gardening and professional growing media markets, 2009

Material Amateur gardening growing media market

(percentage of total materials)

Professional growing media market (percentage

of total materials)

Peat 68 76

Bark 8 11

Green compost 10 2

Wood fibre 6 3

Loam 6 <1

Coir <1 6

Other 2 2

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Green compost makes up 10% of the total material used in amateur products with bark, wood fibre and coir making up most of the other non -peat content. In professional growing media, the major peat alternatives used in either ‘reduced peat ’ or ‘non-peat’ mixes are bark and coir. 5.6 Quantity of peat and other materials imported into the UK as growing media in container grown ornamental plants To calculate the approximate amounts of growing media (peat and alternative materials) imported into the UK in container grown ornamental plants during 2009 data was extracted from the Defra Overseas Trade Statistics. This exercise was undertaken to establish the significance of peat in growing media in imported plants relative to the overall use of peat in growing media within the UK. A number of assumptions were made to calculate the peat volume imported into the UK with container grown plants, these are summarised in Table 10. Average plant value, pot volume and estimated growing media composition for each category were then applied to the import data to obtain the total volume of peat as shown in Table 11. Table 10 Assumptions related to growing media with imported plants calculations, 2009

Plant category Plant value (£) Percentage peat

Average pot size

Indoor plants (excluding cacti)

1.00 80.00 9 cm

Outdoor perennial plants 2.00 85.00 1 litre

Rhododendron and azalea 5.00 100.00 2 litre

Rooted cuttings and young plants

0.30 85.00 plug

Trees and shrubs 4.00 85.00 3 litre

Table 11 Number of plants and estimated associated volume of peat imported into the UK, 2009

Plant category Value of imports £’000s

Number of plants ('000s)

Peat (m3) Other

materials (m

3)

Indoor plants (excluding cacti)

100,286 100,286 40,114 10,029

Outdoor perennial plants

48,169 24,085 20,472 3,613

Rhododendron and azalea

3,118 624 1,248 0

Rooted cuttings and young plants

21,301 71,004 1,207 213

Trees and shrubs 60,914 15,228 38,832 6,852

Total 233,788 211,226 101,873 20,707

17

In terms of the origins of imported plant material, 93% of the plants imported into the UK originated from five countries with the largest portion (69%) from (or via) the Netherlands; the remaining 7% was spread between 28 different countries (Figure 7). Most of the plant material was sold either directly or indirectly onto retail businesses (garden centres, DIY outlets, supermarket retailers etc), but some (especially the young plant material) went to production nurseries for growing on. The total number of plants imported into the UK in 2009 was estimated at over 211,000,000 along with 122,580 m

3 of growing media of which 101,873 m

3 was

estimated to be peat (based on the assumptions in Table 10). In terms of overall peat use in growing media within the UK this represents just a small percentage (3%) of the total volume.

Figure 7 Origin of plant imports into the UK, 2009

6.0 Conclusions The percentage of alternatives that made up the supply of soil improvers and growing media to the four main market sectors (amateur gardeners, local authorities, landscapers and professional growers) increased from 54% in 2007 to 58% in 2009. The total amount of peat used declined again in 2009 to under 3.0 million m

3.

The total amount of materials used in 2009 was similar to that in 2007, with only a small increase in the total market size. With the exception of the landscaping sector, Horticultural Trades Association data indicates that the ornamental horticultural industry has been less affected by economic recession than some other industries. The ornamental horticultural markets tend to show more variation from year to year depending upon the prevailing weather conditions at key marketing periods (April -June) with generally higher sales of plants, growing media and soil improvers in years with good weather in the peak sales months of March-June. 2009 was a good to average year in terms of ornamental plant sales for many businesses, but this varied from sector to sector. Weather conditions at key periods can also determine the amount of peat harvested each year and wet years can lead to UK sourced peat being substituted to an extent by overseas sourced peat or by other alternative materials. The summers of 2007, 2008 and 2009 were unusually wet and this had an impact on the volumes of peat that could be harvested.

Denmark

4%

Germany

3%

Netherlands

69%

Other

7%

Italy

8%

Belgium

9%

18

The total usage of alternatives has continued to increase , particularly in the landscaping and amateur gardening sectors. Bark continues to be the main alternative ingredient in growing media (32% of the non-peat material used), but there have been significant increases in the use of manufactured wood fibre (now contributing 16% of all the non-peat materials) and coir (6%). Green compost makes up 26% of the alternatives used in growing media. Professional grower use of peat has fallen from around 1.1 million m

3 in 2005 to 0.9

million m3 in 2009 and the average proportion of peat in the professional growing media

market has reduced to 76%. The use of peat by the amateur gardening sector has reduced from 2.3 million m

3 in

1999 to 2.1 million m3 in 2009 whilst the proportion of peat in the amateur growing

media market fell to 68% in 2009.

7.0 Appendices Appendix 1 Bulk spent mushroom compost supply (‘000 m

3)

1998 2005

Amateur gardeners 77.5 37.0

Local authority 14.0 24.0

Landscaping 190.5 164.0

Appendix 2 Sources of bark supplied to all horticultural markets in 1999 - 2009 (‘000 m

3)

Source: Year Soil improvers

% Growing media

% Sub-total

% of year

UK bark 2005 625.7 208.4 834.1 50

2007 954.7 232.1 1,186.7 61

2009 1,209.6 303.9 1,513.5 80

Southern European 2005 490.8 74.7 565.5 34

bark 2007 451.7 161.1 612.8 31

2009 277.3 86.9 364.2 19

Northern European 2005 200.0 78.8 278.8 17

bark 2007 86.0 62.1 148.1 8

2009 0.0 13.5 13.5 1

Total 1999 1,087.9 90 126.9 10 1,214.8

Total 2001 1,197.3 89 145.0 11 1,342.3

Total 2005 1,316.5 78 361.9 22 1,678.5

Total 2007 1,492.4 77 455.2 23 1,947.6

2009 1,486.9 79 404.2 21 1,891.1

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8.0 References Defra ‘Monitoring of peat and alternative products for growing media and soil improvers in the UK, 2005’. Defra ‘Monitoring of peat and alternative products for growing media and soil improvers in the UK, 2007’. Horticultural Trades Association, Garden Industry Monitor (GIM) Retail Sector Reports.