At the end of May 2024, we received the news that our bite protection CroPro is one of four winners of the Bioplymer Innovation Award from Polykum e.V.
neo-plastic Dr Doetsch Diespeck GmbH, Diespeck, together with GLENPRO Ingenieur-GmbH, Wuerzburg, and the engineering office KDS Kunststoffe-Dienstleistungen-Service, Moeglingen, have developed an innovative bite protection against deer browsing, especially for conifers. Thanks to an ingenious combination of material, design and colour, forestry workers can simply assemble the ‘little crown’ to the main hoot of young trees. The bite protection is called CroPro and made of a biopolymer. It weighs just 1.5 grams and it grows with the plant, without affecting its growth. The ‘spikes’ and the blue colour of the injection-moulded part, is deterrend for wild animals and keeps them away from gnawing off the terminal shoot, the tree top, which is very important for the tree. The self-enclosing and flexible shape prevents from slipping off the bite protection due to wind and weather or by sweeping. The open structure of the component avoids heat and moisture accumulation and expands as the tree grows. In contrast to other bite protections, the injection moulded part does not have to be adapted to the growth of the tree, nor does it have to be collected later for environmental reasons. This is because the biopolymer decomposes naturally through microorganisms and degradation processes when it comes into constant contact with the soil.
The development has been nominated as one of the four winners of this year's BIOPOLYMER INNOVATION AWARD 2024 by POLYKUM e.V. The actual ranking will be announced at the international congress ‘BIOPOLYMER - Processing & Moulding’ on June, 11th in Halle (Saale).
Excerpt from the online article in the magazine Plastverarbeiter (available only in German):
Click here to access the online article in the magazine Plastverarbeiter (available only in German)