AIMPLAS’ latest research project focuses on recycling and circularity. The ÑCostas project, takes place in three main regions. Valencia, Galicia and La Rioja and aims to make it possible to reuse plastic material recovered from the sea and waste from the aquaculture industry. The company claims this could be used to make walkways and platforms for fish farms, port protection products, flotation tubes nets and mesh for reinforcement, among other products.
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Key highlights
- The ÑCostas project, takes place in three main regions. Valencia, Galicia and La Rioja- aims to make it possible to reuse plastic material recovered from the sea
- project sponsored by a consortium of companies.
- These products will be processed using conventional transformation technologies and will aim to maintain and even improve the properties and useful life of current products.
- Most of the plastic products found in the seas and coasts of Spain are polyolefins (e.g. HDPE and LDPE), the most common material for making bottles and bags.
The Plastics Technology Centre and the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) are the technical coordinators of this project sponsored by a consortium of companies made up of Acteco, Duraplastics, Ecoplas, Barbanza, Plastire, Rotogal and Solteco.
These products will be processed using conventional transformation technologies and will aim to maintain and even improve the properties and useful life of current products.
The research project, which started in 2021 will last for four years and studies the treatment and recycling of recovered plastic material for use in walkways and access platforms in fish farms to replace the wood currently used. These are known as port protection products, structural and floating tubes for platforms and buoys for signalling and anchoring; by reusing plastic waste products such as fishing gear, nets and meshes, experts believe that they can create more lightweight reinforcement for concrete platforms and other products.
AIMPLAS claims, the project is based on the best method for recovery, selection and processing of marine plastic waste and aquaculture industry waste, considering its lack of uniformity and the different levels of degradation at different times in the sea.
Raúl Araque, a researcher in the Agriculture and Aquatic Environment Group at AIMPLAS said: “The results of this project will put us one step ahead of current legislation. In addition, Spain is one of the European Union countries with the most kilometres of coastline, so development of the ÑCostas Project will make Spain a pioneer in the recovery of marine plastic waste and the collection of fishing gear for reuse in products in demand in the aquaculture sector. The experience acquired in this project for reuse of this waste can also be applied to other sectors.”
Most of the plastic products found in the seas and coasts of Spain are polyolefins (e.g. HDPE and LDPE), the most common material for making bottles and bags. When combined with smaller amounts of other polymers, polyolefins are used to create all kinds of containers, such as styrene. These materials have a high chemical resistance, according to AIMPLAS makes them ideal for recycling products for the use in the marine environment.