BetterSoil Booster, a natural soil amendment: A circularity from trash to resource | Knowledge Hub | Circle Economy Foundation
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Business case
BetterSoil Booster, a natural soil amendment: A circularity from trash to resource
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Soil is the largest carbon reservoir on Earth after oceans and a very important element in keeping global warming under 2°C of the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, soil quality improvement for also contributing to the promotion of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is the central focus of betterSoil for a better world, a recognized legal capacity organization based in Ulm, Germany with Start-Ups in Iran, Kenya, and Malawi. Iran, as a country located in a dry region, is experiencing the negative impacts of climate change since a long time, and substantially challenging with the issue of soil improvement. Therefore, in Iran, betterSoil is strongly following the concept of circular economy by transforming biological waste as a problem into a resource as a solution, which is done by manufacturing of betterSoil Booster as a soil amendment product turns waste into nutrients for enhancing soil health. Following this way, the approach of promoting sustainability in practice would be achieved. 

Problem

Biological waste such as kitchen and garden waste are not recycled by more than 80% because they have usually been transferred to landfills and burned in open fields, which leads to the release of a high amount of CO2 into the atmosphere. This eventually contaminates the climate, soil, and groundwater. Two main reasons for producing more waste are urbanization and population growth, which may also become even more by 2050.  

Solution

In Iran, betterSoil team collects biological wastes in the city of Kerman, then, chop and shred it. The wooden parts of these wastes are transformed to biochar by meeting the criteria of the European Biochar Certificate in Switzerland. betterSoil also makes compost from parts that are nutrient rich. For producing the betterSoil Booster product, the betterSoil high-quality biochar is combined with nutrient rich compost. The betterSoil Booster contains millions of microorganisms and is free of contaminants, which keeps soil alive and provides a suitable situation for more humus formation in the soil. In this way, a sustainable transformation of waste into a humus-rich form of soil, and a more sustainable production of food is occurred. 

Outcome

The betterSoil Booster product makes the soil healthier, which is mainly known as better soil. Crops grown in better soils are much healthier, with increased yield and harvest. Better soils support plants to be more resistant to climate change by providing a better microclimate in the farm. Salinization is massively decreased or even prevented in better soils by breaking down the salt, and more water is restored because of an increase in water holding capacity induced in better soils. One tone of betterSoil Booster is equivalent to sequestering one tone of atmospheric CO2. Overall, betterSoil Booster production is a positive result of the implementation of circular economy in turning waste to a beneficial resource because it promotes the concept of sustainability by pursuing circular economy as well to protect and increase urban biodiversity, and filter pollutants from the air, soil and water, which is a necessitate in large cities. There are photos on the left side of the page showing the obvious results of applying betterSoil Booster product in the gardens and pistachio orchards of customers in the form of with and without betterSoil. 

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