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Deer Industrial grass pavers: the basis for sustainable industrial infrastructure
Read the blog articleDeer grass pavers: sustainable, high-quality concrete that’s nature-friendly
Cobefa, the producer of Deer grass pavers, is making every effort not just to market exceptionally sustainable products but to green its production processes. The focus is on CO2 reduction, green energy, efficient water management, responsible use of materials and electrification of the vehicle fleet.
Deer: the result of far-reaching environmental awareness
The permeable Deer grass pavers are renowned for their quality and lifespan (40-50 years). Because they are made of reinforced concrete, less raw material is needed and a shallower foundation can be used. This has a highly positive impact on the use of materials and transport.
The reinforcement mesh for the concrete is produced by fellow group company Comines Steel. At its state-of-the-art production facility, all shapes, sizes, thicknesses and bending methods are possible. The use of this reinforcement means that cutting work and the associated wastage are definitely a thing of the past. Deer grass pavers are made and reinforced in-house. The raw materials, whether natural or recycled, are sourced locally. This close connection with the home base and local network make it possible to substantially reduce our transport, our fuel consumption and hence our CO2 emissions.
Some 30 to 50% of the cement in the concrete mixtures has already been replaced by an alternative binding agent (fly ash, blast furnace slag), reducing our ecological footprint without any impact on quality.
Green energy and water management
Deer’s production processes run on renewable wind and solar power, partly generated by our own solar panels and – coming soon – two wind turbines of our own. The electrification of the vehicle fleet is ongoing and the charging stations also use electricity generated on our premises, putting 100% sustainable transport within reach.
During the production of the concrete, rainwater is used as far as possible; this is buffered in our own 2-million-litre catchment basin. 500 cubic metres of this is already being used, reducing pressure on the local public water supply.
Waste, reuse and recycling
Recycling is a standard component of our production process. Everything from small quantities of rubble to cement and process water is recycled directly at the plant or ground down and reused. There are always alternative possibilities for whatever hasn’t been used: for example, fragments of material can be collected, broken up and used as new aggregates.
At the end of their life cycle, Deer’s grass pavers can be 100% reused for similar purposes. What’s more, prefab concrete can be easily recycled into aggregate.
Other valuable initiatives
Cobefa and Deer also put their environmental awareness into action in other ways, for example by supporting Go Forest so that a tree is planted for every 10 m2 of grass pavers sold. This young company makes businesses aware of their CO2 emissions and offers sustainable offsetting that has an impact, because the trees are planted in places where they are most needed. Within just a few months, we have had 1,216 trees planted by Go Forest, representing around 207.57 tons of CO2 absorption.
Our partnership with CO2Logic is also promising: the idea is to map our carbon footprint and reduce it even further, significantly accelerating the transition to a sustainable society.
Further plans
Cobefa and Deer will continue this approach in the future. For example, the construction of an extra water basin is in the pipeline. Further investments will also be made in wind turbines on our production site and additions to our solar panels are planned.
For more information or if you have specific questions: 32(0)56/55 48 53 or via the contact form on our website.