Menu
Schiphol Airport, located outside Amsterdam is the 4th busiest EU airport in 2021. It has one thousand hectares (2,400+ acres) of grassland around its runways which is regularly cut for safety reasons to make it less attractive to nesting birds. Rather than spend even more money on disposal, the goal was to find ways to upcycle the fibers into ECOR panels for use by Schiphol’s contractors that service the airport.
Schiphol and ECOR collaborated on the development of proprietary panels over several years. Before starting large-scale production, the panels were extensively tested for practical use at the airport. They are certified, fire-resistant and have the same level of quality as the well-known MDF panels.
A combination of grass cuttings and waste fibers were blended into a Fiber Alloy panel that could be used at the airport for ceilings, partition walls at construction sites, furniture and flooring. An added benefit of this recycling is that the CO2 stored in the grass will not be released and aligns with Schipol’s ambition to be a waste-free airport by 2030.