An end-of-use boat update
Published on January 14th, 2020
Increasing numbers of boats are reaching the end of their useful lives around the world, a result of how millions of them were built from virtually indestructible GRP (fibreglass) in the 70s and 80s and are now referred to as ‘end-of-use’ boats.
Committing redundant GRP hulls to landfill is not an environmentally acceptable option, as they will still be there in hundreds of years’ time. Thus, the challenge for the marine industry is to create a new sub-sector which can responsibly dispose of them, in much the same way as the automotive industry have done for end-of-life cars.
Thanks to the persistent efforts of individuals and organizations in several countries, assisted by funding from within the boating industry, positive developments were revealed at METSTRADE 2019 on November 19-21 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Video uploaded Jan 14, 2020.