Tubex, a Magnera brand, has announced a significant growth in the use of its Tree Shelter Collection & Recycling Programme. The first of its kind scheme saw a 39 percent increase in the number of shelters returned and recycled in 2025 compared to previous year, with the Programme now close to a milestone of two million shelters collected and recycled.

At the end of the 2025, 1,982 dumpy sacks of collected tree guards had been returned to Tubex, up from 1,421 in 2024.  

Once collected, the tree shelters are sorted, washed and reprocessed back into raw material, at an impressive yield of 95.6 percent – meaning that 95.6 percent of the collected shelter material can be used to manufacture new product.

For Pete Stevens, Business Development Manager at Tubex, the 2025 figures reinforce the long-term success of the Programme and its national hub network.

“Last year, we announced that since the start of the Collection & Recycling Programme in 2022, we had recycled more than 1 million tree shelters.  With these figures, we are now approaching the 2 million milestone – a testament to the collective endeavour of the forestry sector to collect used shelters at end of life.”

Polypropylene (PP) shelters containing recycled material that are recycled at end of use are still the lowest environmental impact option (Independent LCA study here: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10130156/) and represent a circular use of materials which is a key pillar of sustainability. 

With a growing network of 24 recycling hubs nationwide, Tubex has collaborated with its distributors and various forestry organisations to create accessible and convenient free drop-off points for legacy tree shelters.

Hub partners include Yorkshire Dales Millenium Trust, Forest Working Plastics Group, Tilhill, Maydencroft, British Hardwood Tree Nursery, Ashlea Landscaping and Green-Tech among others. 

For more information visit - https://tubex.com/sustainability/tree-shelter-collection-recycling-programme/