Could marine plastic waste be recycled into new products for the aquacultural sector? A project undertaken by Spanish research institute Aimplas, which it is coordinating with the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO), aims to demonstrate the feasibility of using waste from the sea to manufacture new products used in the sea, with comparable or better performance properties and using conventional production technologies.
The waste used in the ÑCostas project, as it is known, is recovered from the sea and from the aquaculture sector. It includes plastic derived from items such as walkways and access to rafts and fish farms, port protection products, flotation tubes, reinforcement nets or meshes, signalling buoys and more.
The project kicked off in 2021, and will run for four years in total. The focus is on the development of an optimal methodology allowing the recovery, selection and treatment of marine plastic and waste from the aquaculture sector, taking into account both its heterogeneity and different stages of degradation when recovered.
“The results of this project will allow us to anticipate current legislation,” said Raúl Araque, researcher of Agriculture and Aquatic Environment at Aimplas.
“In addition, Spain is one of the European Union countries with the most kilometers of coastline, so the development of ÑCostas will make our country a pioneer in the recovery of marine plastic waste and the collection of fishing gear for its reuse in products demanded in the aquaculture sector and even apply the experience acquired in this project for the use of this waste in other sectors.”
He noted that most of the plastic polluting the seas and coastal areas today are polyolefins, materials with a high level of great chemical resistance, which makes them ideal for recycling into products for use in marine environments.
A consortium formed by the companies Acteco, Durplastics, Ecoplas Barbanza, Plastire, Rotogal and Solteco is supporting the project, which is mainly being carried out in the Valencian Community, Galicia and La Rioja. The project has also been granted funds under the Cooperation research and development projects programme subsidised by the Centre for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI), supported by the Ministry of Science and Innovation and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER).