Port waste ready to be recycled. (Photo: 3RFish)

Marine-port waste recovery and recycling system introduced

SPAIN
Wednesday, May 02, 2012, 16:20 (GMT + 9)

Portos de Galicia implemented a marine-port waste management system, experimentally developed through 3R-Fish project, which is part of the European environmental programme called Life+.

The model will be implemented as a whole from the piers dependent on Xunta de Galicia, after having verified that the management system of seabed waste is technically and economically viable.

The authority developed this system in two phases:

• The implementation of pilot projects focused on collecting and recycling this waste at the ports of Burela and Ribeira;
• The extension of pilot projects throughout the whole regional port system.

The formula was applied to fishing nets, polystyrene, and batteries, the regional government reported.

According to the findings of 3R-Fish project, the pilot projects in Galician ports were carried out from July 2009 to September 2011, with more than 325,000 kilograms of waste collected from the seabed and recycled in a sustainable way.

Regarding the batteries, it is possible to deal with them properly through cooperation with the manufacturing industry.

Meanwhile, the recycling industry is interested in plastic waste -- fishing nets and polystyrene packaging.

Portos de Galicia requires the new cleaning service permit holders to recycle these three types of waste.

The aim is to ensure "the continuity over time of the results of the European environmental project and the total assumption of the pilot projects, achieving a much higher recovery of waste than the one existing so far," the autonomous government pointed out.

By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com

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