OUR LIGHTHOUSE PROJECT – WATER-RETAINING, ROOT SLEAVE TUBE (RST)
OUR LIGHTHOUSE PROJECT – WATER-RETAINING, ROOT SLEAVE TUBE (RST)
There is a way to permanently restore and preserve forest areas that are increasingly drying out due to climate change.
With the support of Berlin’s Humboldt University, we have developed compostable tubes made of biodegradable thermoplastics for use in forestry to produce seedlings and to help in planting trees.
These water-retaining, roots sleave tube (RST) have already been sold to tree nurseries Thuringia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Schleswig-Holstein and France for use in trial areas.
A root sleave is a compostable tube around the root, filled with water-storing substrate, which is placed in the soil with the tree when it is planted in order to improve growth. (Sinn??) Second-generation root sleaves are now being produced using the spiral wound extrusion process (Begriff korrekt??) and are usually 30 cm long and 5 cm in diameter. They consist of completely biodegradable materials in various thicknesses and, depending on material and thickness, they are degraded completely in the soil by microbial enzymes in a relatively short time without leaving any persistent microplastic particles behind.
All raw material partners must confirm that the building blocks used for the “compounds” consist of 100% certified biodegradable materials (statement on biodegradation).
THE MAIN ADVANTAGES OF FULLY BIODEGRADABLE ROOT SLEAVE TUBE (RST) INCLUDE:
THE MAIN ADVANTAGES OF FULLY BIODEGRADABLE ROOT SLEAVE TUBE (RST) INCLUDE:
Compostable tree guards made of biodegradable thermoplastic were developed for the forestry sector to protect young trees. They were first used in May 2024 in Pritzwalk in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania with young poplars on a short rotation plantation.
Our sales partner for the Mecklenburg and Brandenburg regions is the company Preußen-Forst.