The “RepescaPlas” project, which is studying marine waste recycling, is moving on to its third phase by applying chemical recycling, such as pyrolysis, to the 5,000 kg of marine litter it had collected in order to obtain new products out of them, such as fuel. The project is coordinated by Spanish technology centre Aimplas (Valencia; www.aimplas.es) and three other institutions and has recovered five tonnes of marine litter from the Spanish ports of Marin, Restinga and Gandia since the project started two years ago – see Plasteurope.com of 30.11.2018.

Studies are being carried out to determine the feasibility of setting up plants in ports to obtain fuel that can be used by sea-going vessels. Mechanical recycling will be optimised to improve the materials’ properties and increase the percentage of marine debris that can be used in final products. The debris was sorted out based on characteristics and origin, and the information will be used to define a marine litter density map of the seabeds.