Tree shelter specialist Tubex has announced a major expansion of its Tree Shelter Collection and Recycling Programme, by offering hubs around the UK where tree shelters can be dropped off to be recycled, completely free of charge.
The scheme is a joint initiative with charity Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT), which opened several hubs of its own in 2021.
There will be a total of 14 national hub locations launched this year. As well as YDMT’s sites, Tubex’s parent company Berry Global will provide five of the hub locations, while forest and woodland management company Tillhill is also supporting the scheme by offering two locations for shelter collection.
With so many hubs across the UK, Tubex is aiming to increase accessibility and proximity whilst limiting any unnecessary costs for end users, so that people are not discouraged to recycle tree shelters at end-of-life by having to fund and organise their disposal process.
Tubex will therefore be covering all costs after the bags of used tree shelters are dropped at the hubs, including bailing, washing, recycling and re-pelletizing the material so that it can be used to create more shelters.
Not only will all types of Tubex shelters be accepted (including mesh shelters) but shelters that are manufactured by other brands can also be recycled at the hubs (providing the shelters are made from Polypropylene – which can be identified by a small ‘PP’ symbol on the tree shelter).
On the decision to introduce the scheme, Tubex’s Marketing & Product Development Director, James Taylor explained:
“We are so pleased to be able to announce the launch of our tree shelter recycling hubs with the support of YDMT and other partners – since its inception, our plan has been to continually progress the Tubex Collection and Recycling Programme and offer the opportunity for our customers to recycle their shelters locally. This new hub scheme is a significant investment from Tubex into the industry to ensure responsible solutions for the tree shelters at their end of life.
“Our hubs now provide a convenient way for our customers to ensure that their shelters will be handled responsively at end-of-life, completely free of cost.
“It is also ideal for smaller scale planting projects that are often not able to fill the 6 bulk bags required for our direct collection service at £39 per bag.”
Mike Appleton, Plastic Free Woodlands officer at YDMT added: “It’s fantastic that the sector has come together to help increase the availability of plastic shelter recycling across the country.
“We have operated two central collection hubs in the Yorkshire Dales for the past couple of years and have already collected more than 60,000 tree shelters, thanks to support from local landowners and farmers.
“Now we are able to do so much more by expanding into other national parks and reducing the amount of legacy plastic in our woodlands.”
The news of the innovative scheme comes after the company’s recent announcement of its Grow Together Programme, a charitable planting initiative where Tubex are offering tree shelter donation to a different voluntary planting project each quarter.
For those who still want to use the original Tubex Collection and Recycling method where shelters are collected directly, Tubex will still be offering their standard dumpy bags for £39, which can hold 350-400 1.2m tree shelters with a minimum collection amount being six bags.
Click here for more information on the Tubex Collection and Recycling Programme.
For media enquiries, please contact tubex@nmpr.co.uk to speak to our PR agency.
