RootMaker® The Future for our industry

Environmental responsibility has always been at the forefront of our corporate mission statement. All of the RootMaker® products we manufacture, except our Knit Fabric In-Ground Containers, are designed to provide many growing cycles during years of use, thus keeping our containers out of the landfill. Many of the RootMaker® products currently in use are over 10 years old. Our durability, coupled with developments in recycling, will go a long way in keeping nursery container materials in the recycling loop.

Sustainability is essential to ensure that our customers and our business help improve the world as collective stewards of the earth and its citizens. Sustainability is also essential regarding the products we develop and promote. In addition, designing more environmentally conscious products and making them accessible and affordable to more people benefits our shared economy by normalizing those products and creating demand in the market.

The RootMaker® growing system has accelerated the ability of landscape scale reforestation by producing trees that have a higher survival rate, reach maturity more quickly and sequester more carbon annually than trees grown and planted using conventional methodologies (bare root seedlings).

The future of plant production

However, this is just a start to how RootMaker® plans to reduce our ecological footprint and increase our green business practices. Currently only 8% of all nursery pots are recycled. To combat this issue, RootMaker will begin offering a bio-plastic container during 2022. While the cost of this product will be higher, it’s critical to bring it to the market to help offset the lack of horticulture containers being recycled.

RootMaker® will also be an integral component of the Agritech revolution that allows consumers to have foods that are ready for immediate consumption, but also fresh and nutritious fruits and vegetables, with a preference for sustainably grown produce. By 2050 we will need to produce 70% more food, while agriculture’s share of global GDP has shrunk to just 3%, one-third its contribution just decades ago. Roughly 800 million people worldwide suffer from hunger. And under a business-as-usual scenario, 8% of the world’s population (or 650 million) will still be undernourished by 2030. The reality is that very little innovation has taken place in the industry of late, but RootMaker® plans an ever-growing presence in the coming decades.

Additionally, the future will rely on bio-containers that can be planted directly into the soil. These containers are intended to withstand watering and handling during short-term production and shipping conditions. Once planted, the containers will begin to break down and allow plant roots to penetrate the pot and grow into the soil. The use of plantable containers eliminates container removal and disposal costs and can reduce the cleanup time required at installation.

Containers that are plantable will have design features that promote root pruning, as well as rapid establishment. It is imperative that plantable containers do, in fact, break down once installed and leave no plastic residue to allow root establishment into the surrounding soil.

To better serve our industry, we believe it is our responsibility to offer our customers an assortment of growing containers that will advance the sustainability movement. The RootMaker ® Green product line will be a disruptive force for both the nursery and agriculture industry. Growers will be able to plant millions of trees and plants with absolutely no plastic signature. RootMaker® is dedicated to removing plastic from our landfills and oceans, while enabling the planting of 1 trillion trees.

Stay tuned for the next generation of RootMaker® technology!

For more information, please contact us at (800) 824-3941 or visit www.rootmaker.com.