Information regarding recycling of wastes generated from small fiber glass boatmaking

Dear All,

I am a graduate student at the University of New Orleans and m in need of information on recycling of fiberglass wastes generated from small fiber glass boat making as a part of my thesis work.

I shall greately appreciate it if you could furnish the required the information of tell me the sources from where I can fish these information myself.


Thanks and Regards,

Siva.

 

Continued at: http://boatdesign.net/forums/showthread.php?threadid=410

Note that it's best not to cross post (it's best to not post the exact same question/thread to multiple forums), as it's easier to follow if all replies to a question are grouped in one thread. Don't take this the wrong way, as this isn't directed only at you, but I thought it would be a good idea to post this as a general guideline for everyone. Welcome to the forums, and I hope you will continue to visit and post here.

 

Natural Resources Spe******t

Siva,

I work for the Corps of Engineers in Central Texas and we have some fiberglass boats that people have discarded in our lakes. We are interested in recycling these boats rather than taking them to a dump. What have you found in regards to recycling fiberglass boats? Is there a place in TX or LA where these old fiberglass boats can be recycled? I'd appreciate any information.

Thanks,
Marcus

 

Gentlemen,

I wrote a comprehensive article on recycling fiberglass boats in Professional Boatbuilder magazine, issue #60, August/September, 1999, entitled "Recycling Dead Boats". If you cannot get a copy directly from Professional Boatbuilder, www.proboat.com, send me an email at ewsponberg@sponbergyachtdesign.com, and I'll send you a photocopy.

Basically, the story is, recycling by-product from within a boatbuilding plant is relatively easy, because the waste is clean. Once the boat leaves the plant, it becomes "dirty" and is a lot more difficult to retrieve and clean.

Fiberglass cannot be easily chopped up and recycled. When chopped, it "cotton-balls", that is, forms balls of fluff that cannot be broken down further, and you can't do anything with it. About the only thing that old fiberglass is good for is as a souce of alternative fuel. My article describes the processes in more detail. Unfortunately, there are no alternative fuel plants in the US. It has been proven out in test facilities, but the cost is much more than using virgin fuel.

There is a company here in Florida that does use some ground up fiberglass to make alternative products. It is called Seawolf Industries Inc. in New Smyrna Beach, FL. Tel: (800) 275-7344. They are described in my article, and may be of some help.

Eric

 

The best way to recycle a boat is to fix her up purty, hang a new motor, and go fishin'!

 

To all,

I have updated my website which includes uploaded .pdf copies some of my articles, particularly the boat recycling article mentioned above, "Recycling Dead Boats." There is another article there, too, with the European perspective on boat recycling. Click on the link below and you can download these and a few other articles for your own use.

http://www.sponbergyachtdesign.com/Articles.htm

Eric