Final Report Summary - BIO-SHELTER (A novel, innovative and sustainable technique for the manufacture of biodegradable tree shelters with a known life)
Two types of environmental tests were conducted on the biodegradable material blends, namely field trials and accelerated weathering. The former involved planting samples in pots which were exposed to various conditions such as sunlight, precipitation and temperature variations. Accelerating weathering was performed using a QUV accelerated weathering tester in which the test materials were cyclically subjected to eight hours dry ultraviolet (UV) light at elevated temperature followed by four hours condensation at 50 Celsius.
Amongst the main results were the following:
- several material blends successfully compounded into pellet form;
- pellets compression moulded into test pieces and environmentally tested;
- weight change monitored as a function of time both 'in the field' and in environmental chamber;
- several material systems exhibiting encouraging results;
- prototype tree spirals manufactured for evaluation.
Prototype tree protectors were successfully produced using a number of candidate material systems and representative samples had undergone long-term environmental tests. Field trial results indicated that three materials may have offered a biodegradable alternative to existing 'non-biodegradable' tree protectors. The next step was to gain product certification which was the ultimate aim of the consortium.