Trewin Restorick, Founder of Sizzle Innovation, explains how his new sustainable venture is aiming to transform waste into wonderful, circular solutions for your garden. 

There is a saying that where there is muck there is money, but is it true? The theory will be tested with the launch of Treasure Gardening a new social enterprise seeking to celebrate the wonders of waste by making high-quality horticulture products from waste and by-products.

The launch of this new circular economy enterprise has certainly been circuitous. It started with an investigation by Sizzle Innovation, funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, that sought to understand why, despite many warm words and commitments, the sale of peat for gardeners was still not banned.

The research concluded that the industry was struggling to find a consistent and affordable replacement for peat, that legislative barriers were adding cost and complexity, and there was scepticism amongst some professional and amateur gardeners about the effectiveness of peat replacements based on poor early experiences.

These concerns were sufficient to dissuade the UK Government from finding legislative time to introduce the promised ban.

With no ban likely in the foreseeable future, Sizzle set about exploring the steps that would hasten the transition from peat to more sustainable alternatives.

This included bringing together twenty organisations to launch a communication campaign to gardeners, which helped them to better choose and use peat alternatives.

Policy recommendations, backed by 16 organisations, were developed helping to create a more supportive legislative framework. These addressed two of the identified barriers, but what about the supply of a high qualitative alternative?

What is the alternative?

To answer this, Sizzle called upon the services of “compost connoisseur” Simon Blackhurst a self-confessed growing media geek with vast experience in developing peat alternatives.

Based on his knowledge, it became clear that a mix of materials was required capable of replicating the properties that make peat suitable for growing. Could we create this magic mix?

Around 20% of the new compost could be provided by green waste and we worked with Durham County Council to source this material.

Despite their excellent sorting process, it was clear that plastic contamination was a problem. A trial communications campaign was run, which successfully halved the amount of visible plastic found in the waste. This reduction was sufficient to pass rigorous testing.

The key for the remaining ingredients was to ensure that they were of consistent quality and sustainably sourced. This was achieved by sourcing wood off-cuts from the furniture industry, using a by-product of the coconut industry called coir and wood bark.

The new compost was made and sent for growing trials in the North East of England where it outperformed both peat and non-peat competitors.

Convinced that we had a viable product that could address one of the three barriers we had identified, our challenge was how to take it to market.

Market research identified that most people don’t give much consideration to the compost they purchase relying on price and previous buying decisions rather than thinking about quality or sustainability.

With this understanding, we worked with an agency called Chorus & Bridge to create our new Wonderfuel compost brand.

The new branding deliberately aimed to stand out from a rather staid market focussing on the quality of the product backed by strong sustainability credentials. Start-up funding was secured and we are now seeking to make it available through retailers and online.

This is the point of trepidation. Will we be able to break into a difficult market, will gardeners buy it, have we got the pricing right and does the bold branding work?

Early indications are positive. What we do know is that we have already sparked new conversations about the importance of transitioning from peat and the challenges that this represents.

What were the next steps?

Our story could have ended at this point, but the creation of Wonderfuel got us thinking more broadly. Over the course of our research and product development, we have become aware of a huge range of green and biowaste that is currently being underutilised.

Waste materials such as used hops from the brewing industry, scallop shells, sheep wool and maybe even pet hair could, if properly treated, be used to provide sustainable and circular solutions for growers.

These solutions could reduce dependency on fertilisers, cut costs, enrich the soil and support circular economy ambitions.

The launch of Treasure Gardening aims to successfully land Wonderfuel in the marketplace and to research opportunities for turning other waste streams into horticultural products. It is a long shot but if successful will demonstrate that strong environmental commitments can go together with a profitable business.

If we’re successful, our intention is to donate some of the profits to sustainable growing initiatives across the UK so that we build wider impact.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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