This year BIB Biobased Industries Bulgaria Ltd. thanks to its own forage harvester, it was able to harvest a large amount of miscanthus in the plantation “Kireevo / Region Vidin (Bulgaria). In 2018, the local owners of CLAAS and JOHN DEERE forage harvesters refused to chop this type of material. They feared great damage to their choppers. All the arguments that colleagues in Germany, Austria and Switzerland use the same machines for the Miscanthus harvest in the spring did not convince them. After the entire plantation with its 110 hectares fell victim to a deliberate arson in 2019, it was then equipped with its own security system.
That is why part of the plantation could now be harvested in 2020 with its own CLAAS JAGUAR 685 SL forage harvester. Around 300 tons of material with a cutting length between 4 and 6 cm are now available.
BIB Biobased Industries Bulgaria Ltd. was able to purchase a large hall of a former state agricultural yard in the vicinity of the plantation in January 2020. As the renovation work is still ongoing, the material was deposited in an interim storage facility in the field and will be delivered to the hall for further processing by mid-June.
In addition to the 110 hectares, new miscanthus plantations are to be planted over the next few years. This year around 2 hectares of early Miscanthus plants will be established. The roots had to be harvested because an international gas pipeline will cross the plantation in a peripheral area and this material would have been lost. The roots from this area were secured and are now being raised in plant pots forthe future planted in a new field area. With its 110 ha, the plantation in Kireevo is likely to be the largest contiguous Miscanthus plantation in Europe.
After renovation of the hall – which also includes the creation of a suitable power supply – machines for the processing of the Miscanthus harvest 2020 will be purchased. In the medium term, BIB Ltd. will use their miscanthus for fiber-based materials, for example for plant pots and growing pots. It is also planned to start producing granulate, which can be used as a raw material for “wood plastics”.
BIB Ltd. is interested in collaborations with companies that use fiber-based materials to manufacture their products.