The recycling of yachts, motor boats and sailboats may sounds glamorous, but it is in fact an urgently needed response to the growing environmental problem of old boats increasingly littering our waterways, creating an eyesore along with water pollution.  

Boating is for sure a popular hobby in Europe, with 500,000 recreational boats in the Netherlands alone. The problem however is what to do with these boats when are no longer wanted or no longer serviceable. The Netherlands currently has around 6,000 ghost boats: worthless vessels whose owner is unknown. And the problem is getting bigger. One of the reasons for this is an aging population. As the populations ages, boats become free, but there is no buyer interested or available. Many youth for instance have neither the money nor the time to adopt the hobby.

Polyester boats that came onto the market in the 1960’s and 1970’s are the biggest problem in terms of unwanted boats. As a material, polyester does not decay, but rather becomes brittle and it has no rest value. Owners of tens of thousands of these polyester yachts built in this era are today no longer in the mood to pay for any more repairs or upkeep, thus leaving them abandoned or to be dismantled by  someone without the skills to safely dispose of the potentially hazardous materials onboard.

Gerwin Klok of the NJI (Yacht Building Industry) however sees opportunity. He believes the yacht building sector should see these unwanted eyesores as an economic opportunity. Re-usable boat parts, for example, can be cleaned, identified, labeled and sold through retail outlets to boaters of limited means. Other parts and materials can be recycled and returned to the production chain, treated woods and fiber-reinforced plastics in particular, thus closing the chain of yacht building.

Other initiatives include intake docks, where owners can dock their boats for the last time. Here, an intake can be completed with valuable materials and reusable parts collected and the ship  then scrapped. Another possible idea is to interest more young people in the sport, creating a young and growing market for second hand boats.

During this edition of METS 2015, the topic of recycling boats is at the forefront. A panel of leading industry experts will be debating the various ‘solutions’ on the table and what needs to be done to avert a full-blown crisis. Expert Gerwin Klok will also take to the METS 2015 Innovation Lab Stage  on Thursday, November 19 at 11:15 with an informative presentation on this topic. 

You can find a full schedule of lecture and seminar topics at METS 2015 here.