Cutting Strawberry Carbon Emissions by 40% using Recycled Coir with Overland
- Growing Kent & Medway
- Jan 7
- 4 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
British soft fruit growers could cut their carbon footprint by up to 40% by switching to recycled coconut coir. A large R&D grant project, supported by Growing Kent & Medway, enabled Kent-based Overland and Niab to scientifically validate a new recycling process. The trials proved the recycled material performs as well as virgin coir, cuts water use, and tackles the industry's massive waste problem.
At A Glance: Project Quick Facts
Project Lead: Overland (John Longley)
Collaborators: Niab (Dr Mat Papp-Rupar), Kelsey Farms, The Summer Berry Company (Micky Riggs)
Total Funding: £443,873 (Grant Awarded: £273,270 / Co-investment: £170,603)
Key Findings: Recycled coir provides equal yields, uses 8-10% less water/fertiliser, and cuts CO₂ emissions by 26-40%.
Food System Areas:
The Challenge: A £10k-per-Hectare Coir Waste Problem
The UK soft fruit industry relies almost entirely on imported coconut coir. This single-use substrate, shipped from Southeast Asia, creates a massive financial and environmental burden. It's expensive (costing around £10,000 per hectare), generates vast amounts of waste (100m³ per hectare), and carries a significant carbon footprint from shipping (9.7 tonnes CO2eq/ha).
For Kent-based Overland, a company specialising in end of season crop and substrate removal, this was a problem they saw piling up first-hand. As Operations Manager John Longley explains, "We visited some soft fruit growers and started removing strawberries and raspberries. We ended up with a huge amount of spent coir from these businesses, and we wanted to reuse it." But simple reuse was too risky. As Dr Mat Papp-Rupar of Niab notes, growers had asked about this before, and "we realised that actually [there’s] quite a large risk" of spreading diseases from one season the next.
The Innovative Idea: A Circular Economy for Growing Media
Overland and Niab recognised that developing a scientifically validated recycling process for this coir could create a powerful circular economy. Their idea was to turn a costly waste stream into a safe, sustainable, and commercially viable growing media for the UK market. This would provide growers with a cheaper, locally sourced alternative, slashing input costs.
The economic value of this R&D is twofold: it creates an entirely new, high-value product for Overland, and it gives Kent growers resilience against rising import costs. Dr Mat Papp-Rupar explained "Growers have become reliant on a continuous supply of virgin coir that’s shipped from Southeast Asia, increasing the cost and carbon footprint of the current system. This project allowed us to address both challenges with a single solution, and I was excited to be involved"
The Approach: De-risking Coir with Scientific Trials
To de-risk the new product, the idea needed rigorous scientific validation. As John Longley said, "we needed the science behind it... We needed to validate our sterilisation process." The methodology, led by Niab, was comprehensive: it optimised steam sterilisation thresholds, profiled the strawberry root microbiome, and assessed all chemical and physical properties of the recycled coir.
The R&D then moved to large-scale commercial farm trials at Kelsey Farms (2023) and The Summer Berry Company (2024). These trials tested the recycled coir against virgin coir using standard growing practices, providing the essential real-world data on performance and safety. John Longley praised the partnership: "working with Mat and the team at Niab has been fantastic... they've unlocked the science that we needed to make this project successful."
The Results: Equal Yields, 40% Less Carbon
The project was a resounding success, proving recycled coir performs as well as, or even better than, its virgin counterpart. On-farm trials showed equal strawberry yields and fruit quality, with no increase in pests or diseases. In fact, plants in recycled coir developed better root systems and, in one trial, were ready to harvest 5-7 days earlier.
The environmental and economic gains were clear. Plants grown in recycled coir required 8-10% less water and fertiliser due to its higher water-holding capacity. Most importantly, the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) confirmed a minimum 26% carbon footprint reduction, with trials on strawberries showing potential savings of up to 40% by eliminating sea freight.
The results reassured growers in the Southeast, with Micky Riggs, Head of Growing at The Summer Berry Company, commenting: "We have gained confidence over the last few years of trials that there is very little difference between recycled coir and virgin coir."
See it Differently: Turning Farm Waste into a Sustainable Substrate
Looking Forward: A New Market for UK Horticulture
With scientific validation, recycled coir is now entering the UK market. Overland, described by John Longley as a "fast-growing business... full of enthusiasm and ambition," is investing in new infrastructure, including a larger steriliser. Commercial adoption is already happening.
Micky Riggs confirmed: "We've now expanded to around five hectares of production in 100% recycled coir... We're also planning a larger trial using 4,000 grow bags of recycled coir in 2026.” This R&D has created a new, sustainable growing media for British horticulture and strengthened Kent's position as a leader in the circular economy.
Our Support: Facilitating a Landmark R&D Partnership
This ambitious 24-month R&D project was supported by one of our large R&D grant programmes, which provided £273,270 in funding. This capital facilitated the crucial multi-partner research and the large-scale commercial trials.
