13 november 2023
With a kick-off meeting earlier this year for more than fifty international stakeholders, RHP initiated the development towards a scheme for responsible coir production. The orientation phase of the project Responsibly Produced Coir (RPC) has now been completed and the development of the sustainability scheme has started.
In the last quarter of 2023, the Responsibly Produced Coir (RPC) working group will meet four times to discuss the design of the new sustainability scheme for coir. The working group members come from coir companies, Glastuinbouw Nederland and the certifying body IMO Control. Project manager is Hein Boon, who, as director of Responsibly Produced Peat, already has extensive experience in setting up a certification scheme for responsible production.
In the working group meetings, the members each provide input from their own expertise and jointly determine what the content of the sustainability scheme for coir should look like. It is determined at which points in the origin and production chain there are risks to people and the environment, among other things, in order to prevent and reduce the risks. A consultative group of coir producers and stakeholders monitors the movements of the project and provides important feedback, so that it becomes a sustainability scheme that will be widely supported. The plan is to discuss a draft schedule with stakeholders early 2024.