Using plastic to save trees

Large old trees give so much. They provide beauty and shade, raise property values, remove pollutants, and have even been shown to bolster mental health.

However, their sprawling roots tilt up concrete sidewalks, posing physical risks in the form of tripping hazards that can open cities to costly lawsuits.

What’s an environmentally conscious and legally liable community with mature trees to do?

In Logan, Utah, they are looking beyond the age-old solution of getting out the chainsaws. Instead, they have replaced some buckling slabs of cement with paving tiles made from 100 percent recycled low density polyethylene. Called Terrewalks, the 24-inch-by-30-inch tiles are 35 pounds each and can be easily removed to trim tree roots and then set back in place.

Not only have Terrewalks saved trees in at least 200 U.S and Canadian cities, the raw materials for the synthetic squares come from some of the lowest grades of LDPE. We’re talking dirty agricultural film that previously had little if any demand...

.....The raw materials, such as plastic wrap used to bale hay for dairy cows, are converted into Terrewalk tiles through a process called thermo-kinetic technology, which, unlike injection and extrusion molding, does not require plastic to be clean, sorted or pelletized.....   ...more

Ken Notes: Brilliant!!! This AG film is becoming a problem and when I asked a farmer what they did with it his reply was - Off the record, we burn it. READ THIS!!!!