The new product, called Pro-Grow Rockdust, is aimed at home, allotment, community, schools, commercial growers, local authorities and landscape gardeners, and provides an organically approved way to increase plant growth, and accelerate natural composting processes.
The new product comes from a by-product of the quarrying industry and is based on basic silicate rocks that have been scientifically shown to capture up to 25% of their weight in carbon dioxide when integrated with soil and compost. With an overall carbon footprint of less carbon than other fertiliser and soil improver products, Veolia says its the only one to permanently capture the carbon. It does this by using the enhanced rock weathering process that takes carbon from the unstable biological cycle, and moves this into the stable geological cycle, a process which has been verified by Newcastle University who review the independent scientific analysis of Pro-Grow's supplies on a regular basis.
Users to date have found that the Rockdust improves soil health and organic growing, as it contains macro and micro minerals and trace elements. This also boosts the life in the soil, from bacteria to worms and supports the Nitrogen fixing bacteria that also capture organic carbon as they grow.
As it does not require the energy and carbon intensive processes needed to produce nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) based plant foods, the new Rockdust product "will help growers by providing a natural solution for improving their soil. The resultant healthier plant growth, by using the rock dust, has also reduced the need for pesticides and herbicides according to reports from leading gardeners." Both the Soil Association and Organic Farmers and Growers have approved the Pro-Grow Rockdust for use on their certified growing systems.
Launched at the Four Oaks Trade Show on September 3-4 in Cheshire, the Pro-Grow Rockdust product will be available in a range of sizes including 500g tubes for window boxes and patio growers, to 10kg bags for gardeners, and 0.5 tonne and 1 tonne bulk bags for professional growers.
This innovation illustrates Veolia's ability to maintain its decarbonisation trajectory and comes after the launch of its new strategic GreenUp program, which plans to accelerate its decarbonisation trajectory. Veolia has taken a new step in its climate strategy by obtaining the validation of its objectives by the Science Based Targets initiatives (SBTi), the international reference in this field. The SBTi praised the Veolia’s net-zero ambition. International rating agency Moody’s also analysed Veolia’s transition plan, awarding the company an overall score of NZ-2 (on a scale of NZ-1 to NZ-5), and praising the ambition and solidity of its short-term implementation. This is based in particular on the use of technologies such as Veolia’s ProGrow Rockdust product.
COO Treatment Donald Macphail said: “Thanks to Veolia's innovative strength and in line with the objectives of the GreenUp Plan, Veolia's launch of Pro-Grow Rockdust provides an ideal opportunity for gardeners and horticulturists to improve their soil health through the use of this natural material that boosts biological processes. Not only will it encourage healthier plant growth but it will enable all gardeners to accelerate the decarbonisation of their practices and to contribute to countering climate change by removing carbon dioxide.
"This is another example of how Veolia is taking action, with its GreenUp plan, to regenerate resources and accelerate the decarbonization in order to achieve ecological transformation at every scale."
