The new Tubex guards  are bio-based and currently under testing for ISO:17556 Soil Biodegradability outside in nature. This new tree shelter product can provide up to 5 years of protection.

Available to order from October 2021, Tubex Nature follows months of research and development to optimise the product. The Tubex Nature tree shelters can be left in situ by planters and will naturally biodegrade over time, ideally mulched or buried at their end of life to increase the speed of degradation, becoming a choice for particularly dense or difficult access areas of woodland for the collection and recycling of tree shelters.

Tubex Nature will join the suite of Tubex products that are used across thousands of acres of countryside in the UK and around the world to provide protection from browsing animals, herbicides, pesticides, and other environmental factors, while accelerating sapling growth.

Data from Tubex customers shows that tree shelters are estimated to have saved approximately 12.5 million saplings in the UK in 2020. These figures come as the UK Government pledges to plant 30,000 hectares of new trees each year by 2025.

The company claims that this ambition, coupled with a current sapling shortage for the 2022 planting season, means tree shelters have never been more important for ensuring saplings have the best chance to establish into mature trees across the UK.

Announcing the new product, Rhauan Young, Commercial Sales Leader Terram & Tubex said, "We're pleased to announce the expansion of our Tubex portfolio of products with Tubex Nature, a solution that can now give forestry and woodland management organisations a choice of products to choose from for their particular foresting needs.

"We've listened to our customers who said that collection in some areas was difficult, such as dense woodlands or harder to access areas like forests at higher altitudes, to develop an easy solution that will biodegrade over time, without leaving any toxic chemicals behind. In 2021, the need to successfully plant trees and give saplings the best start has never been more important if the UK is to meet its tree planting targets to help achieve net zero emissions by 2050."

In addition to its Tubex Nature product, Tubex has implemented a Collection and Recycling programme for its long-life, polypropylene standard tree shelters to ensure the correct disposal and circular re-use of tree shelters that established trees no longer need. In its first year of operation Tubex has collected 150,000 tree shelters through the programme that will be recycled into the production of new Tubex standard products, helping increase the percentage of recycled content in those to close the loop. Where today Tubex standard tree shelters contain up to 40% recycled content, the plan is for them to contain 100% recycled content in the next few years.

Tubex was established in the 1970's as a specialist plastic extruder, with its first tree shelters produced in the early 1980's. Tubex quickly became the most popular on the market, selling well in both the UK and overseas. Tubex is a brand owned by Berry Global, who create packaging and engineered products.