Developing Environmentally Beneficial Products.
APT is dedicated to providing cost effective peat based products that are environmentally beneficial. We believe that through these products our company, along with our customers, can take part in providing solutions that will enhance the sustainability of the environment in the future.
Concern for the environment and the idea that the natural characteristics of peat can be used to create cost effective, environmentally beneficial products are the very cornerstones upon which American Peat Technology has been built. APT continues to pursue environmentally beneficial products both in house and through partnerships developed with likeminded companies.
These ideals have led to the development of BioAPT, a series of microbial carriers that allow increased crop yields while diminishing the need for commercial fertilizers. Research by our customers, in tandem with our own R&D group, is yielding new products that control insects, mold, and crop diseases. In all of these applications, the central idea is to use peat as a carrier of a beneficial organism replacing the need for toxic chemicals.
Another major APT accomplishment has led to the harnessing of the natural ion exchange capacity that reed sedge peat provides. This capacity has been made accessible by the conversion of the parent peat into a strong granular media, APTsorb. Many heavy metal contaminations of 5 ppm or less can now be addressed with a product that can outperform fossil fuel based ion exchange resins costing up to 20 times the price.
Conducting Environmentally Responsible Operations.
It is not enough to produce environmentally beneficial products, especially if the process is not environmentally responsible or sustainable. At APT, we continually pursue responsible and sustainable ways of conducting our operations. In late 2010, we finished a large expansion of our production facility. In the process, we converted our primary drying operation to utilize biomass instead of fossil fuels. This conversion reduced our carbon footprint by 75%, and in Phase 2 of the project, we will complete the conversion of our secondary drying step to use this same biomass fuel source.
In addition to our production improvements, we are actively pursuing sustainable harvesting practices. From initial opening of a peat reserve through remediation, carefully planning goes into developing environmentally responsible practices. We are working closely with local, state, and federal authorities in developing such practices to ensure were not only meeting regulatory requirements, but also to have an active part in developing Best Management Practices.
Over 15% of Minnesota’s land mass is covered by peat, and many of these reserves are 10+ feet in depth. The accumulation of peat here in North America far exceeds current rate of harvest. APT currently has over a 120-year supply of peat permitted under current production levels. However, this does not mean we are not preparing for the future and thinking about sustainability. We are actively experimenting with “producing” peat. Peat is a renewable resource, but there is much speculation as to how quickly peat accumulates, and we here at APT intend to find out. By controlling water levels and plant growth in remediated sites, we are going to determine how much peat accumulates in ideal conditions. The better we understand peat, the better our sustainability practices will become.
