For a long time, peatlands were seen as an obstacle to agricultural use. Today, they are gaining attention as part of climate protection efforts. Paludiculture brings these two perspectives together. It enables the agricultural and forestry use of plants that grow on wet or rewetted peatland sites. The crucial factor is that the peat body is preserved or can regenerate. From a climate perspective, this is essential, as drained peatlands are among the largest sources of emissions in agriculture.
“Although only 7% of agriculture takes place on drained peatlands, these 7% of land account for 37% of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and around 7% of Germany’s total greenhouse gas emissions,” explains Dr. Clemens Kleinspehn from the Greifswald Moor Centre. The reason is straightforward: when peatlands are drained, the peat decomposes and releases large amounts of CO₂. Paludiculture reverses this effect. “In addition, ecosystem services associated with peatlands, such as regulation of the microclimate, flood and drought protection, water purification, and the promotion of peatland-specific biodiversity, can be partially restored through paludiculture,” says Kleinspehn.
For the packaging industry, paludiculture is particularly interesting because of the plants that grow there. Many paludiculture species are grass-like and therefore suitable for fibre production. “Pulp can be produced from grass-like biomass and used as virgin fibre in paper production or recycled paper processing, replacing wood fibre,” Kleinspehn explains. In the longer term, further applications are conceivable: “In addition to paper, other packaging materials such as biogenic plastics or mycelium grown on paludiculture biomass are possible, although significantly more research and development is still needed.”
In Germany, reed, reed canary grass, large sedge communities and mixed wet meadow hay are currently used in particular for paper production.
A common misconception is that paludiculture fibres require entirely new production lines. This is not the case. According to Kleinspehn, the main challenge lies in processing the biomass into longer, recyclable fibres. “There are various fibre-processing methods suitable for paludiculture that are already known from wood pulping, such as mechanical grinding, the kraft process or steam explosion,” he explains. After fibre and pulp production, the raw materials can be processed in existing industrial facilities.
As a rule, however, pure paludiculture papers are not produced. Instead, blended papers are used. The proportion of paludiculture fibres varies depending on requirements. “At present, tests are still being carried out to determine how high the paludiculture content can be without impairing paper properties,” says Kleinspehn.
However, peatland plants offer even more versatile applications in packaging materials. The scientist also sees potential in the plastics sector. Like any biomass, paludiculture provides large amounts of lignocellulose, which can be broken down into sugars and lignin. Sugars serve as a platform for numerous synthesis pathways, including polymers such as PLA, PBS or HMF. “However, the processing methods are still hardly developed. There are many approaches from the processing of wood and miscanthus that could be adapted to paludiculture, but so far there are only a few university projects working on this,” says Kleinspehn. In addition, there is a structural problem affecting all biogenic polymer sources: “fossil raw materials are still far too cheap.”
The advantage of paludiculture becomes particularly clear when looking at climate balances. The key factor is previous land use. Paludiculture systems cause significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions than the conventional use of drained peat soils.
“It makes a difference whether I source my pulp from a forest that has been managed for 300 years and whose greenhouse gas emissions remain constant, or from a newly established paludiculture system that emits 25 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents less per hectare per year than the previous land use,” says Kleinspehn, adding: “Changing land use to paludiculture reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and this should be recognised.” To date, this aspect of the ecosystem has been largely ignored in many reports.
At present, only a few companies are intensively involved in using fibres from paludiculture. While competitive properties have already been achieved, many processes are still under development. At the same time, pressure on conventional fibre raw materials to become more sustainable is increasing. “Traditional fibre raw materials are coming under growing pressure to become more sustainable. But it will still take a long time before fibres from paludiculture are widely established on the market,” says Kleinspehn.
The Paludi Alliance aims to accelerate this development and brings together stakeholders from agriculture, science and industry. The involvement of the Otto Group is particularly visible. Prof. Dr Michael Otto has been committed to peatland conservation for many years, including through the Michael Otto Environmental Foundation and the toMOORow initiative he co-founded with Prof. Dr Michael Succow. The Otto Group already uses paludiculture fibres for its shipping cartons and has committed to equipping all cartons with the highest possible share of paludiculture biomass from 2027 onwards.
“The Otto Group’s self-commitment for 2027 is definitely an important signal to society that the use of paludiculture biomass is possible,” says Kleinspehn. At the same time, he points to the broader context: “Germany’s sustainability targets will also be difficult to achieve without large-scale peatland rewetting. That means the biomass will be generated in any case, and we need to develop applications to make it easier for farmers to switch to the socially necessary paludiculture systems.”
Paludiculture therefore remains far from a purely theoretical concept. Step by step, it is developing into a key element for climate protection, agriculture and a more sustainable packaging industry.
Author: Alexander Stark, Editor FACHPACK360°
