National Highways – Removing and Recycling Legacy Tree Shelters

“We’re really pleased with how the day went and our thanks goes to all the staff who gave up their time to help out – and also to Tubex, which has the perfect infrastructure in place to recycle shelters once they reach their end-of-life.”

Rob Barron, Supplier Relationship Manager at National Highways East

The Project

In October 2023, National Highways East held a volunteer day to address legacy tree shelters left alongside the A428 near Hardwick, Cambridgeshire. These shelters had reached the end of their useful life-enhancing sapling growth and were collected in response to public feedback and concerns about them being left in place on the roadside.

The event brought together over 25 volunteers, including staff from National Highways East and partner organisations, who removed 2,000 legacy tree shelters from the environment.

The Solution

The collected shelters were then sent to Tubex’s dedicated recycling facility in Heanor, Derbyshire. Once processed, the recycled polypropylene was used in the manufacture of new tree shelters.

This effort was facilitated by Tubex’s Collection and Recycling programme, which currently provides over 20 collection hubs across the UK.

Jack Readman, Field Technical Advisor at Tubex, added: “We thoroughly enjoy supporting collection events like this. Recycling at end-of-life is critical to achieving the lowest impact shelter solution and ensuring sustainability in tree protection.”

This collaboration has also inspired National Highways East to plan further collaborations to remove additional legacy shelters across the region.

For more on National Highways East, click here.