A Welsh waste management company is deploying steam technology in order to clear invasive species from soil.
According to Wales247, Gavin Griffiths Group acquired the system to deal with the growing threat of Japanese knotweed.
The invasive plant spreads throughout the soil, so even when it's removed at the surface, it's likely to crop up again later. This renders large portions of soil contaminated, requiring multiple truckloads to remove it from the site.
The new solution is a steaming system built into a shipping container. Soil is loaded into it, and superheated steam is circulated throughout the soil, killing weeds, seeds, and pathogens.
Up to 27 tons of soil can be treated per hour this way, allowing it to be returned directly to the site without transportation. This technique has already seen success in Scandinavia.
In one project, the Gavin Griffiths Group noted that this system allowed for the reuse nearly 9,000 tons of soil. This would have otherwise required 400 truckloads to transport, costing £150,000 (over $200,000 USD).
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Japanese knotweed is a notoriously stubborn invasive plant. It has been known to cause structural damage to buildings while monopolizing resources from native plants. When invasives take root, they can lower biodiversity and negatively impact ecosystem services that people depend on.
One study from Queen's University Belfast, cited by The Telegraph, suggested that Japanese knotweed incurs £41 million (over $55 million) in economic costs to the U.K. annually.
Invasive species more broadly cause hundreds of billions of dollars in economic damage every year globally.
Gavin Griffiths Group is pleased to offer a treatment for Japanese knotweed that does not rely on environmentally damaging chemicals.
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Giving me money back 💰 "We are proud to be the first in the U.K. to bring this game-changing technology to market," said managing director Gavin Griffiths. "Our Innovation Division has been searching for a solution like this for some time as it's one of the biggest issues our clients face.
"This technology not only helps protect native ecosystems but also supports our circular economy goals by allowing treated soil to be reused safely and sustainably."
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