A Tasmanian-based recycling firm has set its sights on end-of-life fishing lines and nets – difficult to recycle materials given the number of polymers they’re made of – and will soon install “very expensive” technology to divert these problem wastes from landfill.
Environex specialise in the collection of waste from the aquaculture industry and the company’s patented EnvoHex Grid is just one of the products made from the recycled materials.
According to Environex managing director Jenny Brown, Envohex it’s a permeable ground reinforcement that is used in place of concrete and asphalt.
“So it’s like a ground stabiliser,” said Brown.
Envorinex collects waste materials from salmon pens, black poly pipes used for irrigation, and feedlines, citing Tassal and Petuna Seafoods Tasmania as their main sources of feedstock.
“We collect them and bring them to our plant where we shred these materials and melt them down through an extrusion process and turn them back into a pellet that we then reuse to manufacture products. We’re processing about 800kg per hour,” said Brown adding that everything the company collects is recycled and all products it manufactures are guaranteed recyclable.
Some of these products include septic systems exported to Fiji and Papua New Guinea, and matting shipped to Scotland for its oilrigs.
“Any excess pellets are sold back into the mainland so we ship a lot back to Melbourne as well,” Brown said.
Envorinex also recycles fishing floats (large buoys) used in the oyster industry as well as 44 gallon or 200L chemical drums. At present, the company’s recycling line is able to process HDPE, PP, LDPE and LLDPE but that will soon change. They recently wrapped up a research and development program that took close to two years to complete, investigating the possibility and viability of processing end-of-life fishing nets and lines.
Brown noted that recycling these materials has always been a challenge… until now.
“Usually, there are mixed polymers in and amongst these materials and they are very complex materials to recycle. That’s why it’s taken us so long to refine that,” Brown said.
“We’ve just finalised the program and we’re now looking to get finance to put in a new line for these materials. The end products will be used in some of our existing products and because it’s a very strong material, we can use it in a lot of different areas. It will go back into the agricultural industries and some will be used in building products as well.
“We’ll be investing in very expensive technology so we had to make sure the process was right and that we have enough volume here in the state to justify investing that money,” Brown said, adding that there is indeed enough volume in Tasmania.
The plan is to rollout the upgrades on July 1, starting with the purchase of equipment.
“We’re also looking to expand into possibly Victoria and South Australia. We’re currently doing feasibility studies on those two states to justify the volumes and make sure it’s viable to do so,” Brown said.