By 2026, a rewetted peatland site in Greater Manchester will be harvesting bulrushes in a trial that aims to boost UK biodiversity, cut carbon emissions and provide eco-friendly stuffing for clothes

BioPuff, a new plant-based material manufactured by the startup Saltyco using reedmace - better known as bulrush - has a similar structure to feathers, providing warm, lightweight and water-resistant insulation, according to the firm.

About 20 bulrush heads are needed to make enough material for one jacket, and the first rushes are expected to be harvested from the UK site in 2026.

“The bulrush has an amazing high-volume structure,” says Finlay Duncan, a co-founder of Saltyco.

“I’ve been farming this land for 35 years and have seen steadily declining yields and increasing difficulty finding a market for traditional crops,” says Steve Denneny, who will be growing the bulrush crop on land owned by the Peel Group.

“Farming on lowland peat can be really difficult. It’s not the most profitable farming.” Ideas like the bulrush project could mean a lucrative “Win-win”, says Longden.

    • Treevan 🇦🇺OPEnglish
      5·
      11 months ago

      The fiber is light, very buoyant, resilient, resistant to water, but very flammable. The process of harvesting and separating the fiber is labor-intensive and menial. It is difficult to spin, but is used as an alternative to down as filling in mattresses, pillows, upholstery, zafus, and stuffed toys such as teddy bears, and for insulation. It was previously popularly used in life jackets and similar devices - until synthetic materials largely replaced the fiber. The seeds produce an oil that is used locally in soap and which can also be used as fertilizer.

      • perestroika@slrpnk.net
        2·
        11 months ago

        Thanks for sharing the knowledge. :)

        They wouldn’t grow on my land, but it made me curious, so I might get a few puffs to experiment with. :)