IFF Plastics
IFF Plastics in Co. Clare, Ireland worked together with BIM to investigate if retired fishing nets from ports could be recycled into a material to create products such as fence posts.
The project began with the collection and segregation of fishing material waste from selected fishing ports.
The majority of the material was made up of green fishing trawl bags and braided twine.
Infos
Location(s): Cree, Kilrush, Co Clare, Ireland
Duration: 12 months
Partner(s): Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) / (MTU) / IFF Plastics
Contact : info@iff.ie
Web : https://iff.ie
Results
The waste proved difficult to shred effectively due to the mixed composition of materials, even individual nets contained added materials from repairs. Additional challenges included contamination and the presence of salt residue.
Following several trials involving the shredding of mixed materials, it was determined that separating the materials and pre-cutting them into smaller pieces significantly improved the quality of the final product.
However, the additional steps, such as material segregation and size reduction, introduced higher labour demands, increased processing time and costs. As a result, further investigation is needed to optimise the process and maximise the potential value of the recycled product.
Initiatives to discover
initiative(s)
FILIPECH
The FILIPECH project has taken two main actions: the establishment of the producer responsability organisation dedicated to the management of end-of-life fishing gear, and the carrying out of new experiments in four ports to test and improve the collection and recovery of used HDPE trawls
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Gravity Wave
Gravity Wave is a social start-up based in Spain. committed to combating marine pollution through a circular economy model.
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Oyster Bag Waste Management
Studies and trials have been carried out on managing waste aquaculture gear, determining the feasibility of disposal of end of life gear through recycling and other systems in comparison to other disposal strategies such as landfill.
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Repescaplas
The initiative aimed at mitigating the impact of marine litter, particularly plastic waste, through its recovery, characterisation, and valorisation into useful products.
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