– It is a great loss of an important resource. One has to ask whether the regulations are rigged in a socio-economic way, says Erik Joner. He is head of research at the Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy, NIBIO. Road projects, construction of railways, industrial development and establishment of cottage fields. These are examples of projects where topsoil is moved. But instead of being used somewhere else, topsoil ends up in landfill every year. Road projects are typical examples where a lot of material is taken away and moved. This is from the construction of the bus route at Jåttå in Stavanger. Photo: Ole Andreas Bø / news Luftfoto No one knows how much Being placed in a landfill at a special reception means that the soil cannot be used as topsoil again. In practice, it is thrown in the bin. The regulations state that it must be covered and buried deeply. But no one knows exactly how much fine arable land is deposited in this country each year. Neither the Directorate of Agriculture, the Directorate of the Environment nor the Ministry of Agriculture and Food can give any answer to that. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food also refers to NIBIO. NIBIO is not on any record either, simply because there is no public agency that collects data on this. There is a lack of control over how much of different types of soil is thrown away and goes out of circulation here in Norway. Franzefoss’ facility at Lia in Trondheim is one of several facilities that receive and deposit contaminated topsoil. Photo: Franzefoss Fear of weed seeds In many countries, it is a big problem that alien plants that do not originally belong in the area spread and take over from local plants. Norway has set up a set of regulations to prevent unwanted species from spreading. Canada golden rice has become very dominant in many places in Eastern Norway. It pushes out, among other things, the bluebell and the priest’s collar. Canada golden rice has been a popular garden plant. Now it has spread out of the beds and threatens wild flowers such as bluebells and daisies. Photo: Anne Ognedal / news Lupines have spread all over the country and are threatening to take over wild flowers in Jotunheimen. The examples are many. In the soil are seeds and roots. If they are from foreign, unwanted species, the soil is considered contaminated. Then a set of regulations comes into effect which states that the soil must be treated as special waste. The contractors must deliver the soil masses to special reception. There are several of these in many places in the country, and those who deliver must pay to the reception. If topsoil from construction work contains seeds or roots from unwanted species, it is considered special waste. Then it must be packed and driven to an approved reception. Photo: Dag Aasdalen / news But topsoil is under pressure all over the world. – It is undesirable that so much topsoil is lost in this way, says Joner. – There is no reporting obligation on this, says section leader in the Norwegian Environment Agency, Kjersti Gram Andersen. – Misuse of a very important resource In 2021, the EU adopted a new soil strategy with measures to give topsoil greater protection and better soil health. According to the UN climate panel, the world faces major challenges in managing access to land, food and water. Soil conservation is stated in Norway as important for achieving the UN’s sustainability goals. The UN has stated that all countries must use the resources they have to produce food. Joner believes it is very unfortunate that topsoil with weed seeds is treated as waste. – Throwing away or depositing topsoil that has lupine in it is misuse of a very important resource. Head of research at the environment and natural resources division at the Norwegian Institute for Bioresearch, NIBIO, Erik Joner, asks if the regulations surrounding the treatment of topsoil are correct. Photo: Privat It takes a thousand years to form a few centimeters of topsoil. – In practice, soil is a non-renewable resource because it takes a very long time to create, says adviser in the organization Fremtiden i våre hände, Ingrid Kleiva Møller. They react to topsoil being thrown away. It takes a thousand years to build up a thin layer of topsoil. As the years go by, the soil will become fine, and can be used to, among other things, grow chives in. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news Can steam the soil In Stokke in Vestfold, the company Soil Steam is located. Since 2018, Soil Steam in collaboration with NIBIO has tested how hot water vapor can kill alien species in topsoil. Steaming soil is a well-known method dating back to the 19th century. That is to say, a heat treater leaves the soil long enough for weed seeds and roots to die. In addition, you can also get rid of unwanted nematodes and fungi. This topsoil was contaminated with seeds and roots from foreign species and was defined as unusable. Now it can be used again. Photo: Soil Steam This is how you can save some of the infected soil. – Ninety percent of our food comes from soil, so we cannot treat it as rubbish. That’s what the founder of Soil Steam, Hans Kristian Westrum, says. He points out that for the whole of Europe, there is talk of 673 million tonnes of pulp being put in landfill every single year. There are all kinds of soil and rock mass. One million tonnes corresponds to 50,000 lorry loads. Hans Kristian Westrum in Soil Steam thinks it is a shame that heat treatment of soil is not something that is used instead of throwing away topsoil. Photo: Benedicte Goa Ludvigsen / news Creating a new standard Westrum believes that much of the valuable topsoil could have been saved by thinking differently. They see good results in warming the soil. – We see that the soil recovers nicely afterwards. It must rise to such a high temperature that unwanted plants in it die, but when the topsoil is spread over the ground again, we see that organisms and life quickly return. The technology of modern heat treatment of topsoil on a large scale is fairly new in Europe. – If we really mean something by soil conservation, we must stop this waste. This is something that goes under the radar in the climate debate and it is a huge problem, says Westrum. Every year topsoil disappears in landfills. It could have been used to grow food. Photo: Hans Philip Hofgaard / news A Norwegian Standard for heat treatment of soil will now be created. The work here is led by Standard Norway, where the Directorate of Agriculture is connected as a resource. Standard Norway defines a standard as a common “recipe” for how something should be made or carried out. For Soil Steam, it will mean that when the standard arrives, builders can more easily adopt their technology. – The authorities are slow and have no overview of how much topsoil goes out of circulation. In addition, it is a conservative industry, where you are used to transporting soil to landfill, instead of thinking new things, says Westrum. He believes it is cheaper to use heat treatment than landfill. – You have to look at what to do with waste in a bigger picture and take into account resource use, sustainability, transport and social economy, says head of research Joner.
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Tonnes of topsoil end up in landfill every year – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio
