Circularitree

Did you know that a tree with 30 annual rings is easily worth around 25,000 euros? Yet they are often the first to go in construction projects. Not because they are felled, but as a result of collisions, soil compaction caused by weight, damaged roots or a lack of groundwater. In Flanders, a quarter of the trees on building sites suffer damage every year, 7 per cent of which die. 

With the Circularitree project, Surplace aims to develop a modular tree protector in line with the principles of circular design, equipped with the appropriate digital link and user platform. In the event of a collision, it is the protector – not the tree – that absorbs the impact, and the organisation only needs to replace the damaged parts.

Surplace is developing the tree protector with a circular business plan in collaboration with Intercommunale Leiedal, the City of Kortrijk, and Howest students and researchers from the Bachelor’s programme in Industrial Product Design. Their ambition? To equip at least 25 European cities with tree protectors, ensuring that not a single tree is lost there. The project runs from 1 December 2024 to 30 November 2026 and receives funding from Vlaanderen Circulair / OVAM.