RECYCLED TRAWLING MATERIAL USED IN THE PRODUCTION OF ELECTRIC CARS

Recycled trawling material used in the production of electric cars

Hampiðjan has put a lot of emphasis on collecting used fishing gear, classifying it into material categories and bringing it for recycling. Recycling methods have now been found for all the materials used in fishing gear, with the exception of two types of rope that are made of mixed plastics, but new mixtures that solve that problem will be on the market at the beginning of next year.

Hampiðjan’s main partners are Plastix in Denmark, which accepts all polyethylene filter material, and Polivektris in Lithuania, which recycles nylon together with the Norwegian company Nofir. These companies clean the used fishing gear material, remelt it and make plastic granules that are sold to manufacturers who make new threads from the recycled material or cast it into parts.

It is always very interesting to know where the recycled materials get a new life, and now the German car manufacturer BMW has decided to use materials from recycled trolleys in its new electric car line, Neue Klasse, which will be introduced in 2025. To begin with, resin will be used in interiors and various kinds of art and other things on the outside of the cars around 30%, but a higher percentage is aimed for in the coming years.

This is reported in BMW’s promotional material. It states that used fishing gear is efficiently collected in ports around the world to prevent the plastic from ending up in the ocean. There is a lot to be done because the recycled plastics have a 25% lower carbon footprint than those produced from scratch. BMW intends to look for all possible means in its production to try to reduce the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere and using recycled fishing gear is part of that.

According to a BMW spokesperson, recycled nylon is the basis for the company’s production of floor mats for the BMW iX and the new BMW X1. The recycled material is called Econyl and it is produced by the company Aquafil in Slovakia from plastic granules that come from Polivektris and Nofir in Lithuania.
The recycled polyethylene plastic granules that BMW uses in the mouldings, interiors and other plastic parts of the electric cars comes from the Danish company Plastix. The material can be used in the production process of cars in a variety of ways, as it is a high-quality plastic used in the trawl nets. The managers of the BMW Group have set themselves the goal that recycled materials in the company’s cars, which are currently around 20%, will be at least 40% by 2030.

Hjörtur Erlendsson, CEO of Hampiðjun, welcomes BMW’s initiative and says that it is in line with Hampiðjun’s environmental policy.

“All used fishing gear that we accept and sort for our customers is now recycled at Plastix in Denmark and Polivektris in Lithuania, so it is quite certain that our material will end up in BMW in the future. We, shipping companies and fishermen can be happy that our used fishing gear will be given a new lease of life in quality BMW cars,” added Hjörtur.

Photo credit: Hampiðjun

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