Fishing tubs and boxes have great recycling potential
The fishing tubs and boxes used in production and for storage of catches on board fishing vessels contain a lot of plastic; and there is no reason that this could not be recycled plastic.
Fishing tubs - replacement and recycling
Today, all our fishing tubs consist of polyethylene (PE), with a core of polyurethane (PUR) that has a good insulating effect. Since the two materials are not compatible in a recycling process, the tubs cannot be broken down into granulate and recycled. Royal Greenland has therefore started a process to phase out the existing tubs and replace the plastic compound with mono-material, i.e. material based on the same polymer structure. In the future, both the surface and core will consist of PE material, which is expected to be sufficiently insulating, against both extreme cold and heat.
It will take time to phase out all existing PE/PUR tubs and work is therefore also taking place to ensure that existing tubs can be included in a recycling process. Currently, we are working with a Polish company that repairs the tubs so that they can be used again. This can naturally only take place a certain number of times, after which the tubs will be part of a combustion process. The new PE/PE tubs will be suitable for both repair and recycling after use.
Fish boxes - recycling
Fish boxes are used for storage of catches on board the vessels. Today, fish boxes already consist of mono-material, namely HDPE, which is a hard and durable plastic. The material can thus be recycled. Royal Greenland has entered into a delivery agreement for used fish boxes with a buyer in Germany. Recycled plastics in the form of granulates are currently in high demand and the achievable market price can thus cover part of the costs associated with collecting and forwarding the used boxes, so they are not discarded in nature.
