A snapshot from 2014.
Who is active?
Who is active in this field already – and where? What is their state of knowledge / technical solutions found? As said before, recycling of leisure crafts is not practised systematically anywhere yet on a bigger scale. But several countries have begun to experiment with extracting and recycling materials from yachts.
The Boat Digest project (update 2026: That EU funded project stopped in late 2015) recently published a map of yacht dismantling stations in Europe. Here it is, rapidly filling with dots. . .setting up a station can be rather quickly done. Yet of course the trick will be to also practise real safe and sustainable works at each station. And what that precisely means is still being explored.
Here is a more detailed selection per country – projects performed there:
Finland
Finnboat – a project which collected 150 leisure yachts and explored best practise in yacht recycling.
France
France has a special project called Bateau bleu. Initiated in 2009 by FIN, the French Nautical Industries Federation. Objective of Bateau bleu, besides other, “…is to insert environmental preoccupation throughout the boat life cycle (R&H, construction and destruction of unfit boats).” To that end, the FIN created the Association for eco-responsible pleasure boating (APER) “to organise and run the setting up of the French network for dismantling and recycling pleasure craft that have reached the end of their useful lives (BPHU – Bateaux de Plaisance Hors Usage) and by extension, other waste disposal networks linked to all the water sports activities.” They set up a special competition – the Bateau Bleau award. Quote again: “A competition open to all, which aims to encourage research and development of new environmentally-friendly
technologies in the sailing sector…”This call for expressions of interest is to support the development of innovative industrial solutions and to increase the reuse, recycling and recovery of materials from waste. It helps to strengthen the national development or the French international industry in this area. Recycling helps conserve natural resources by reusing materials from waste and reduce energy consumption, emission of greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption related to industrial production. …”The winner will receive a prize of €20,000 at the Nautic – Salon Nautique International de Paris, scheduled to take place from December 5th to 14th 2014.” See also here for details. (update 2026: Original link unretrievable)
Italy
Together with Spain:
Life Boat Cycle, a project funded by the EU programme LIFE+ framework. The project’s main objective was to develop new treatment, management and recovery methods for end-of-life nautical boats. The project had sample character which means, technical experiments with fibreglass, wood, neoprene and PVC were conducted regarding their recycleability.
(2026 update: Link expired. See here the original site records.)
LinseT, a “laboratory of experimental engineering and testing”, appears active with research, too: Here is an excellent article they published about yacht recycling. September 2013. It was written by journalist George Marsh, originally for the Reinforced Plastics magazine.
Netherlands
The Netherlands, more precisely, at Enkhuizen at the Dutch IJsselmeer there is a yacht dismantling company called t’Harpje / Bootdump Nederland. They attended the Yacht Recycling conference at Düsseldorf. Their objective is two-fold and sustainable: “Create an opportunity for gathering working experience for people who are disadvantaged in today’s working markets and dismantle old crafts up to 15 m of length into recyclable components and residual waste.” Update 2026: This project is not active any more. Initiator Bram van der Pijl had to give up his project due to lack of working space. He had rented an area from the municiplaity of Enkhuizen for 5 years but could not extend that, is my state of info. If you understand Dutch, here is a video about his work.
Norway
Norway saw a very interesting cooperation with yacht recycling between these companies:
SINTEF – scandinavian research organisation.
Veolia – recycling services.
Reichold** – Composite processing and recycling.Quoting Åse Dragland, editor of GEMINI
Magazine: “In Norway, nearly 5,000 recreational boats are retired and disposed of every year – sunk to the bottom of the sea or burned in a bonfire. Now, researchers have developed a new method for recycling these vessels.” Read her interesting article here.
** Update 2026 for Reichold: By a merger in 2017, Reichold became part of the Polynt Group.
Spain
The Yachtrecycling conference which took place at the Boot Düsseldorf 2014 brought news about Spain, too: A presentation from – Lola Rodriguez of the LEITAT Technological Centre, about the BOAT DIGEST project and the general situation in Europe: Main problems, how these actually constitute opportunities for sustainable business and knowledge transfer, plus a crystal clear work plan set up for the EU project BOAT DIGEST. Have a look at their projects.
Common sense as well “…a new project that will support the implementation of European Union marine policies such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).”
Then there also is Recyship – a project which “seeks to support the European Commission in developing rules and guidelines in relation to vessels that, for various reasons, must be removed becoming a unique residue very complex to manage.” They conducted sample projects.