Have you heard of Japanese knotweed? If you have, we hope that it’s not because you’re one of the 4-5% of households affected by the invasive plant. Estate agents are familiar with this fast-growing fiend, often due to the effect that it can have on the sale of a property.
After a sharp rise in undeclared cases of the weed during heightened activity in the property market – likely due to hurried transactions to save on Stamp Duty – several buyers may find themselves with a bill for costly treatments. Sellers must state the presence of knotweed on a TA6 form, where a ‘no’ is only valid once the correct checks have been carried out.
The Japanese knotweed removal industry is both expensive, and harmful to our environment. The thousands of tonnes of plant waste are left to regrow, or decay at landfill sites each year, giving off gases such as methane.
After much research and development, leading specialist Environet now has an environmentally friendly solution, turning our enemy into our ally. They’re able to harness the plant’s remarkable CO2-scavenging powers to fight against climate change by using a process called pyrolysis. The charcoal left at the end can then be charged with additives to create a product that improves soil structure, locking carbon in for hundreds or even thousands of years.
Environet’s excavation method sifts infested soil to remove rhizome (underground plant stems), returns the cleaned soil to the ground, and converts the rhizome into biochar (a high-carbon form of charcoal).
Nic Seal, Founder and MD of Environet UK, said, “With the COP26 climate change summit around the corner and the climate crisis reaching the point of no return, we need to act fast to find new ways of dealing with waste which are not just zero carbon, but carbon negative – reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide.”
Following this new solution, the next stage of Environet’s research will be tackling economy of scale, and sourcing agricultural and horticultural markets for the biochar. The company hopes to be converting all excavated plant waste that it produces to biochar by the end of 2022, as part of its pledge to become a carbon-neutral business.
To check sightings of Japanese knotweed near you, check out their interactive heat-map here.
