Biome Technologies plc (LON:BIOM) Bioplastics division has announced that it has secured £248,000 via a further funding contract to complete the development phase and reach commercial production of its biodegradable tree shelter project. This follows the Company’s successful completion of an initial feasibility study to develop and test a new generation of biodegradable tree shelters to be made from the Company’s novel bioplastics.
This additional funding has come from the Government-backed Innovate UK agency as part of the Sustainable Innovation Fund (SBRI Phase 2) and will support a significant increase in project activity and facilitate further extensive laboratory testing of materials and UK-wide field trials with potential end-customers for the novel biodegradable tree shelters.
In the UK, around 45 million trees are planted each year, most of those using non-biodegradable tree shelters for protection, with an estimated 2,500 tons of persistent plastics ending up annually in the natural environment after use. Plans to significantly increase tree planting as part of the UK’s drive to mitigate climate change will exacerbate these problems. This project aims to curb such unnecessary levels of plastic pollution with a product that biodegrades in-situ after use.
The project continues in close partnership with Suregreen, a leading manufacturer of tree shelters, whose team has broad experience in the manufacture and sales of such products. Suregreen will involve its forestry customers in product assessment of the biodegradable tree shelters.
Paul Mines, Biome Technologies’ Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“This additional funding will help accelerate both the laboratory and ‘real-world’ testing of this exciting new product, moving it a step closer to large scale commercialisation.”
Investors can find more details on this project’s scientific approach and its future path to prospective commercialisation in a short video on the Bioplastics division’s website: https://biomebioplastics.com/tree-shelter/.
