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After receiving a European subsidy of € 2.2 million, the Province of North Holland can start with the green alternative to road salt made from sap from roadside grass. The province will be conducting trial runs on the N504 near Alkmaar during the winter season.
19-06-2018 12:15 | BY: MARTIJN VAN DER DONK
The grass project has been given the name Grass2Grit. It is more environmentally friendly and moreover available, because 3 percent of the Netherlands consists of roadsides. To make the verges attractive for flowers and herbs, which is good for pollinating insects, the grass must be mowed and removed once or twice a year. This roadside grass is not waste but can be a raw material and source of income. The grass can be used for slipper control, but also as a raw material for biogranules that can be processed into, for example, traffic signs and poles.
Also read: Grassap against slipperiness
Extensive testing
Deputy Sustainability Jack van der Hoek: "We are very pleased that the project received this subsidy, in particular because it also represents a great appreciation for the provincial employee who came up with this innovative concept. and circular innovations We can now start testing extensively and we hope that we will be able to use this road salt everywhere. "
Grass is pretty salty
The idea of ??slipperiness control with grass sap comes from Hillebrand Breuker, policy advisor at the province of Noord-Holland. "With grass you can do more than you think," he says. "You can squeeze it out, then you get juice and fiber. For example, the fibers can be used in the paper industry. That has been known for some time. By chance I discovered that the juice from the grass is pretty salty. I thought: I have to deal with that. "TNO, Tauw, TU Delft and the University of Twente conducted research into the possibilities of the grass sap.
The conclusion was that it can be used as a means for slipper control. Meanwhile a number of enthusiastic partners have joined the project so that the idea can be put into practice. Together with these partners, J. van Bodegom & zn, Van Gelder, Natural Tree Systems and Schuitemaker, the province applied for a European LIFE grant in 2017, which has now been granted.
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