An IT equipment recycling and refurbishment business and Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT) have come together to collect legacy tree shelters from a woodland in the Yorkshire Dales – removing a significant amount of shelters from the site, which were then recycled through Tubex’s Collection & Recycling Programme.
Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust is a charity that supports the people, landscape and wildlife of the Yorkshire Dales and surrounding areas and is a founding partner of Tubex’s recycling scheme.
The charity was instrumental to the launch of free-to-use tree shelter drop off points located across the UK and now manages several of these collection hubs.
Based in Rotherham, S2S Group also provides data destruction services and is one of YDMT’s corporate partners. As part of its ESG efforts, the company took part in a volunteer collection day at a private woodland near Hawes, Wensleydale that remains one of the few red squirrel strongholds in England.
Nathan Church, Marketing Manager at S2S Group said, “Our company has a strong ethos of supporting local communities and the environment. As a recycling company with a commitment to reach Net Zero by 2050, the collection day with YDMT seemed like a no-brainer”.
S2S Group employees travelled to the Dales and spent the day removing legacy tree shelters from the site. Once collected, the shelters were then dropped off at a YDMT-managed Tubex Collection & Recycling Hub located in nearby Appersett – with the shelters then recycled by Tubex free-of-charge.
The private woodland is owned by the Kemp family and was planted by Hugh Kemp who was passionate about trees and initially wanted to create a Christmas tree crop. After introducing native trees more favourable to their diet, red squirrels eventually began to appear and the woods are now a significant bastion for the endangered species in England. The site is open to visits by the public.
Mike Appleton, Plastic Free Woodlands and Grants Officer at Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust said “S2S contacted the trust as they wanted to link up with an environmental charity that was doing good work in the Yorkshire Dales. The team that came along had some amazing passion for the work and it’s great to see this level of enthusiasm from a group of people that just want to do some good.
“The impact a small group can have is immense, we were able to collect almost 2,000 shelters in just one day.”
YDMT hosts regular volunteer tree shelter collection days at Mirk Pot and other woodland sites across the UK in order to remove legacy tree shelters that have been left in place, often up to 20 years or more.
“It’s vital that we remove legacy plastics from our woodlands but with labour shortages and the costs involved, it can be tricky to make this happen. That’s why passionate volunteers such as the team from S2S are so important to our work”, continued Mike.
Speaking on the benefits of volunteering, Nathan Church said “From a business perspective the volunteer day has been fantastic because it has helped form bonds between team members. People who don’t usually work together get the opportunity to do so and come away from the day having achieved some important and tangible good”.
Tubex’s Collection & Recycling Programme aims to collect and recycle used Tubex products and polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) shelters from other manufacturers. The scheme allows for on-site collection or the drop-off of used shelters at free-to-use recycling hubs located across the UK.
