Local alternative to hardwood shoring and bank protection

Bank protection and shoring are usually done in tropical hardwood. HIP Groen has a local and sustainable alternative, combining two raw materials in one product: 100% recycled plastic with PEFC certified softwood, both sourced in the Benelux.

HIP Groen has a background in civil engineering. Together with the municipality of Gouda as launching customer, a sustainable alternative to hardwood shoring was developed in 2014 and bank protection. "A product in which we cleverly combine two raw materials to achieve both a long technical lifespan of more than 50 years and the lowest possible environmental impact in raw materials and production," says Wouter Smit of HIP Groen. "And we succeeded. The product is currently undergoing an LCA and expectations are high."

100% clean residual stream

HIP Green's bank protection and shoring bulkheads are composed of recycled HDPE plastic for the part that manifests itself above the waterline and PEFC certified pine for the part below the water. "That combination makes for an affordable product with a long lifespan and low environmental impact," Smit states. In fact, we source both raw material streams from the Benelux. Incidentally, we deliberately choose HDPE plastic instead of a 'blend' of mixed plastics. HDPE is a tough material, does not break down and does not decompose into microplastics. So it is a 100% clean residual stream, without plasticizers or other toxic substances, which has been used in drinking water pipes for years."

Potential is enormous

With the sustainable and local alternative to hardwood, HIP Groen focuses exclusively on municipal and urban waterways where the water level is kept artificially at a fixed level. "It's a big market for us, the potential is enormous," Smit knows. "Besides producing and delivering the plastic shoring, we can also take care of the assembly." Since its introduction in 2015, HIP Groen can count several municipalities as regular customers. "In addition to the municipality of Gouda, which replaces several kilometers of bank protection and shoring every year with our sustainable and local alternative, we also have long-term cooperation with the municipalities of Hoorn and Leiden, among others. In addition, our product is also becoming increasingly well known among hydraulic engineers, landscapers and other infrastructure contractors."