{"id":27595,"date":"2025-05-05T14:07:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T12:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/?p=27595"},"modified":"2026-03-03T16:17:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T15:17:14","slug":"rewe-group-relies-on-peat-free-soil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/press-and-media\/newsroom\/stories\/rewe-group-relies-on-peat-free-soil\/","title":{"rendered":"REWE Group relies on peat-free soil"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Milestone reached: REWE Group in Germany now only offers peat-free soils. The proportion of peat in potted plants is being continuously reduced. These key measures are part of our sustainability strategy: we are taking responsibility for climate protection and the preservation of biodiversity. But this is just the beginning: we are also making progress in peat-free and peat-reduced plant cultivation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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10 October 2025<\/p>\n

Protecting biodiversity – we can only do it together<\/h2> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/a>\n <\/button>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Peatlands have a major impact on the climate, as they absorb around a quarter of terrestrial carbon – more than all the world’s forests combined. This makes peatlands the most effective carbon reservoir in the world. However, there are fewer and fewer intact peatlands because humans are draining them to extract peat for potting soil, for example. It takes around 1,000 years for a one-meter-thick layer of peat to grow. If peatlands are drained, climate-damaging CO2 escapes into the atmosphere and biodiversity suffers.<\/p>\n

By completely eliminating peat from our range of soils, we are continuing to consistently implement our commitment to climate protection. We have set ourselves the goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. As a Group, we are committed to science-based targets based on the 1.5-degree pathway of the Paris Climate Agreement. We cannot accept the serious effects of peat extraction: They make sustainable alternatives unavoidable for us and our customers.<\/p>\n

Conventional potting soil often contains around 48% peat, yet peat is not absolutely necessary for extensive planting. Peat substitutes from renewable sources can be put to good use and are also better for the environment and climate.<\/p>\n

As the first DIY store chain in Germany, toom Baumarkt DIY store set itself the goal back in 2016 of converting its entire range of both own-brand and branded soil products to 100% peat-free products by 2025. This ambitious goal has now been achieved. At REWE and PENNY, we are already 100% peat-free in the production of our soils. Remaining stocks from the previous year are still being sold off.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Together for the moors: cooperation with NABU<\/h2>\n

By converting our entire soil range, we are sending a clear signal for climate protection. Together with NABU, we launched the NABU Climate Fund in 2022. REWE will invest a total of at least 25 million euros in the climate fund within five years. The first project is the restoration of 200 hectares of raised bog in the Ahlenmoor near Cuxhaven – currently the largest bog conservation project in Germany. The moor is to be developed into a growing climatic raised bog and at the same time provide a home for countless endangered animal and plant species. An initial success story: since the project began in 2023, over 4,000 hectares of moorland have been secured for rewetting. Around 12 million euros have been invested in the renaturation projects so far.<\/p>\n

As an active member of the “Alliance of Pioneers”, toom Baumarkt DIY store is also committed to the rewetting of former moorland areas in order to revitalize destroyed ecosystems and promote moorland protection.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Sustainability at toom: More than just peat-free soil<\/h2>\n

The conversion of the soil range is just one part of our comprehensive commitment to sustainability and the protection of valuable ecosystems. toom Baumarkt hardware store played a key role in the development of the HORTICERT certification, which examines ecological, social and economic sustainability aspects of peat substitutes. In 2024, Erdenwerk Gebr. Mayer, also a REWE Group company and supplier to toom, was the first company ever in Germany to be certified by HORTICERT.<\/p>\n

In addition, toom is committed to research and development. Together with the N\u00fcrtingen-Geislingen University of Applied Sciences, toom is supporting the project Hobby gardening with peat-reduced and peat-free substrates<\/q>. This project aims to develop practical solutions for hobby gardeners and further increase the acceptance of peat-free products.<\/p>\n

After converting its soil range, toom is now working continuously to make plant cultivation more sustainable: Over 300 ornamental plants at toom Baumarkt hardware stores\u00a0 are already peat-free or peat-reduced.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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PENNY and toom take part in the BMEL’s “Peat-free gardening!” campaign week<\/h2>\n

At PENNY, all Bio Naturgut soils contain 100% peat-free ingredients. The conventional potting soil at PENNY will also be introduced 100% peat-free nationally from the second quarter of 2025. This means that soils at PENNY also offer the best quality based on natural, sustainable raw materials.<\/p>\n

In order to raise customer awareness of the importance of peat-free soils for climate protection, PENNY and toom are taking part in the “Peat-free gardening!” campaign week campaign week. The initiative was launched by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL). A broad alliance of retail companies, associations and environmental and nature conservation organizations is supporting the campaign. By participating in the campaign, REWE Group companies want to draw attention to the positive contribution to environmental and climate protection made by buying peat-free soil and communicate the relevance of the topic and the background to customers in an understandable way.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Peat-free into a more sustainable future<\/h2>\n

Eliminating peat is an important step towards protecting our climate and preserving biodiversity. As a retail company, we want to be a pioneer and role model by promoting more sustainable product ranges, acting in an environmentally and climate-conscious manner and thus promoting a sustainable society.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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    Join the discussion on <\/h2>\n
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    Our LinkedIn feed has all the latest information from the REWE Group and the sector, with the most important developments from the worlds of retail, e-commerce, food, CSR and policy.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

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    In doing so, we are taking responsibility for climate protection and the preservation of biodiversity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":24942,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"15254,25346,27351,24811,25518,24833","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","nl_adhoc_sent":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"sales_line":[19],"focus_theme":[142],"class_list":["post-27595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sustainability","sales_line-rewe-group","focus_theme-undefined"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27595"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27595\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27602,"href":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27595\/revisions\/27602"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27595"},{"taxonomy":"sales_line","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sales_line?post=27595"},{"taxonomy":"focus_theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/focus_theme?post=27595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}