It’s been a very busy year at Environet and as Christmas approaches it’s a good time to pause and reflect on the past twelve months and, most importantly, to say a huge thankyou to you, our customers.
We’ve helped more people than ever before in the fight against Japanese knotweed and increasingly invasive bamboo, as awareness grows among the public about the distance bamboo can spread and the damage it can cause to gardens and property.
A Parliamentary Inquiry into Japanese knotweed and its impact on the built environment in the early part of the year challenged some of the thinking around knotweed and the damage it can do. As one of the longest-standing operators in the industry we contributed our views in a written submission and were vocal in the media about our experiences dealing with this most invasive plant on a daily basis for over twenty years.
In February we launched Exposed, our Japanese knotweed heatmap which records infestations across the country and enables us to build a national picture of the Japanese knotweed problem for the very first time. It generated huge interest from the general public and press which resulted in thousands of infestations being uploaded to the site.
In the summer we launched JK-VIM, an online valuation model to help homeowners and property professionals assess how Japanese knotweed might affect their value of their home, enabling them to make informed decisions about how best to treat it.
We’ve also been continuing our Research & Development programme at our HQ near Woking, Surrey, with a particular focus on eco-solutions and making our work as environmentally friendly as possible. In the autumn we announced that we’ve filed a patent for a method of creating biochar from Japanese knotweed waste, which could ultimately eliminate the need for haulage and landfill, and even help in the fight against climate change.
As we look ahead to the dawn of a new decade, I want to say a very sincere thank you to you, our customers, for supporting us and championing us, for the many wonderful reviews we have received and for helping us to be the UK’s leading invasive plants removal firm.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Nic Seal and the whole team at Environet UK
