WorldStar Winner: EmGuard ™

WINNERS 2024

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EmGuard ™

Company:

OJI Fibre Solutions

ojifs.com/

Country: Australia and New Zealand

Category: Other

EmGuard ™ is an innovative and sustainable alternative to replace problematic single use plastics that is used with a bamboo stake to plant trees and has shown to greatly improve the chances of survival and promote growth in plants. The EmGuard ™ is particularly valuable in the first year of establishment especially where root trainer or small grade plants are used as the design reduces water loss and provides a micro-climate favorable to growth. The EmGuard ™ protects plants from chemical spraying and weeding maintenance, protect plants from predators like hares and Pukekos and helps to easily identify where plants are in a planted area.

The EmGuard ™ is manufactured in New Zealand using a majority of recycled pulp and is a mono material recyclable and renewable material solution. The intuitive 4 panel design, folds into a triangle and is locked in place with the bamboo stake.

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A key benefit is that EmGuard ™ does not need to be removed once plant establishment has occurred as the EmGuard ™ will naturally break down. If by chance, the EmGuard ™ washes into a waterway, it will naturally bio-degrade over time. Trials have shown that the EmGuard ™ will withstand inundation over a period of time and will last for more than a year in the field in normal conditions.

The EmGuard ™ is also light weight and easy to carry and when combined with the 900 mm bamboo canes there is less need for the workers to bend over each time a guard is placed around a tree. When planting such large numbers of trees this ergonomic design feature can make a big difference to the workers.

The EmGuard ™ meets the ANZ Regional 2025 Packaging Targets, the Sustainable Packaging Design Principles and eliminates problematic single use plastic.

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