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Rainbow Spiral Recycling Scheme

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Online ordering & payment options

Online ordering & payment options

If you do not qualify for trade rates, immediate payment by credit or debit card via Sage Pay is required, or you may request contact from the office to make payment over the phone.

For customers who have been accepted for trade rates, we offer several ordering and payment options, including:

  • Immediate payment by credit or debit card via Sage Pay, our payment service provider.
  • Order on account (available to credit account customers only).
  • Request contact from the office & make payment over the phone.
  • Place order to reserve stock & request a call back to discuss timings, with payment only required upon despatch.
£ each • exc. VAT inc. VAT

Note: The minimum order quantity for the Rainbow Spiral Recycling Scheme is 6 bags.

SKU qty price price_excl_tax Save
Recycling Bulk Bag (~600-700 spiral guards per bag) 6 £78.00 £65.00 13%
Recycling Bulk Bag (~600-700 spiral guards per bag) 15 £60.00 £50.00 33%
Collection and Recycling
6+
15+
Qty
Recycling Bulk Bag (~600-700 spiral guards per bag)
90.00 75.00
78.00 65.00
60.00 50.00
reset Reset Quantities
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Minimum Order Value

Please note that there is a minimum order value of £50.00 + VAT, excluding delivery.

Delivery

There is no delivery charge for the Rainbow Spiral Recycling Scheme. Any delivery charge calculated within the basket is for additional lines. For full details on delivery please view our delivery page.

A popular, cost effective way to protect seedling hedge plants from animal browsing is with PVC Spiral Guards.

It is essential that landowners remove them once the hedge plants are mature enough to survive unprotected.

This is usually 3-5 years after planting when it is easier to access the Guards to remove and recycle, and the plants are less likely to incur damage.

The typical method of disposal has been to fill a skip with used Spiral Guards and arrange for the waste to be collected for energy recovery through incineration.

Now there is a way to ensure a second life for these used Spiral Guards with the Rainbow Spiral Recycling Scheme.

Rainbow Professional
For 25 years, Rainbow Professional have been the only manufacturer using 100% recycled materials to make their tree protection.

This is estimated to have saved at least 2 million kgs of carbon every year*, avoiding virgin plastics from entering the environment.

Their Rainbow Spiral Recycling Scheme has been developed to enable used spirals to have a second life through recycling.

An additional benefit of using Rainbow Professional’s recycling abilities is the peace of mind this brings.

They collect the used spirals, process and then re-use the recycled material all within their site in Hull, north England, retaining full control of the process from start to finish.

Partnering with British Hardwood Tree Nursery
As a Wholesaler of a wide range of Rainbow products, including their Spiral Guards, British Hardwood Tree Nursery is very pleased to be partnering with Rainbow to enable our customers to collect and recycle old spirals and give PVC products up to 9 more useful lives.

*Source: Rainbow Professional

Features

  • Enables planting schemes to plan for removal, clear about what will happen to the Spiral Guards once they reach the end of their use.
  • Enables Spiral Guards to be recycled in a safe and transparent manner.

Benefits

  • Spent material is removed from the countryside, avoiding the risk of littering.
  • This formalised Scheme is useful to quote in Grant Applications where there is a requirement to show the long term management of a planting scheme and how Spiral Guard protection will be removed at the end of its useful life.

Step 1: Order
Estimate the number of bags you will need. Each Rainbow Spiral Recycling Bulk Bag will hold 600-700 used Spiral Guards. If your hedgerow was planted 6 plants/m, then 1 bag would cover around 100m of hedging.

Minimum order is 6 bags.
6 to 14 bags £65/bag ex VAT
15+ bags £50/bag ex VAT

The cost of a bag includes collection.

Order online or call the office (01673 818443 Mon to Fri 8.30am to 5pm) to place your order.

Once your order is placed you will be sent empty Bulk Bags to collect your Spiral Guards in.

Step 2: Remove
Remove used Spiral Guards, collecting them in the Bulk Bags ready for collection. Refer to the ‘Removal Guide’ on page 3 of our Downloadable Guide for recommended best practice. Allow for approximately 20-25 minutes to remove 5m worth of Spiral Guards.

Step 3: Collect
When you have filled at least 6 bags, contact us to arrange collection. Your details will be passed to Rainbow. They will be in contact to discuss when they will collect your bags.

For 6-14 bags collections are April to September.
For 15+ bags collections are available all year.

Step 4: Recycle
Rainbow will handle the recycling. Recycled Spirals will be made into new products. These include spirals, PVC pipes or window frames.

1. Who can take part in the Rainbow Spiral Recycling Scheme?
Any professional or end-user can take part. For practical and environmental reasons, we recommend grouping bags as much as possible to make the collection journeys as efficient as possible.

2. Who will collect the Spirals?
Each end-user is responsible for the removal of the spirals. When the bags are full, contact us and we will arrange for them to be collected by Rainbow, who will them to Hull, England for recycling at their facilities. The minimum number of bags that can be collected in one collection is 6.

3. Where can I get the Rainbow Bulk Bags from?
Order online via our website, or call our office to place your order.

4. What is the minimum number of bags I need to order?
The minimum number of bags is 6. You can order more than this.

5. Can I get a refund on any unused bags?
We are not able to offer a refund on any unused bags. However, provided you have ordered the minimum number of 6 bulk bags, and they have not yet been collected, you can order extra bags by calling our office.

6. Which product can I put in the Rainbow Bulk Bags?
Any PVC spiral or PVC vole guard (these are the dark green vole guards) can go in the bag. Please do not put cans, litter or other products inside as these could have a negative impact for the recycling plant. For that reason, mixed bags will not be accepted.

7. How much will the bags weigh?
The bags will weigh 35-50 kgs depending on how efficiently they are filled.

8. How many Spirals fit in a bag?
Rainbow currently estimate about 600 – 700 spirals fit per bag, maybe more. At 6 to 7 spirals per meter of hedge, 1 bag would cover around 100m of hedging.

9. When will the Recycling Scheme run?
For collections of 6-14 bags, the Scheme runs from April to September, outside of the planting season. However, for collection of over 15 bags, the Scheme will run all year long.

10. When is the best time to remove spirals?
We recommend removing hedge spirals between November and March when hedge plants are bare of leaves and the bird nesting season has finished.

11. What does Rainbow do with the recycled material?
The recycled materials will be collected, shredded and if needed washed. Depending on the quality, they may be immediately usable as regrind to process into new spirals at Rainbow, processed further into pellets, or used as in-fill for window frames. As Rainbow use 100% recycled materials, they have a local network of recycling partners that they can rely on to find the best possible outlet for each waste material.

12. What share of the Spirals can be recycled?
PVC is one of the most recyclable polymers in the world (up to 9 times). For that reason, a high rate can generally be recycled. Even in cases where the spiral has lost some of its properties, it can still be useful for some applications with a higher “wall thickness requirement” such as a window frame or a thick PVC pipe, which can use lower grade PVC as an in-fill. As Rainbow’s factory has been active in recycling for over 25 years, they have a wide network of partners that can provide a suitable outlet. In cases where further recycling isn’t possible, the waste materials can still be used to turn into energy.

13. What will my spiral be recycled into?
There are various options. PVC that has retained most of its characteristics (e.g., memory, flexibility) can be recycled into a Rainbow Spiral Guard or a Rainbow Tree Tie. PVC is one of the most used polymers and recyclates can also be used by other factories that manufacture pipes, cables, window frames, automotive interiors, seat coverings, fashion and footwear.

14. Why does my local recycler not accept PVC Spirals?
It could be that your local recycler is focused on household waste applications (e.g. PP, PET). PVC is mainly used in industrial applications. When different types of plastics are mixed, they become hard to separate and recycle again. Many recyclers will therefore specialize in certain types of plastic in order to maximize recycling rates.

15. How do I get started?
Order bags online via our website or call the office to place your order. Bulk bags are dispatched within 1 week from ordering.

Download PDF

Download Advice Sheet

Our advice sheet can be downloaded in PDF format for convenience.

Download link:
Rainbow Spiral Recycling Scheme - Advice Sheet (671 KB)