The volumes of fishing gear routed for recycling by Hampiðjan Iceland has remained roughly steady in recent years. The 2025 total was 1229 tonnes.
The 2023 figure was 1128 tonnes, followed by 1295 tonnes in 2024. The bulk of this material is from fishing companies delivering end-of-life gear for recycling, plus there’s a smaller amount of Hampiðjan’s own internal production waste.
The volume of gear shipped to recyclers in 2025 was 244 tonnes of nylon, plus a further 66 tonnes from aquaculture cage nets, 147 tonnes of polyethylene gear and 109 tonnes of polypropylene rope. In addition, around 311 tonnes of rockhopper gear has been handled.
Approximately 212 tonnes of material were not suitable for conventional material recycling and were routed to energy recovery.
All metal material was recycled in Iceland, while other 62 forty-foot containers of recycle material was shipped to companies in other countries. A total of 1122 tonnes of plastic materials was exported for recycling, while Hampiðjan Iceland imported 976 tonnes. As 15% more material was exported than imported, this indicates a continued reduction of accumulated stockpiles of used fishing gear across the country.
The largest share of recyclable material in 2025 went to Norwegian company Nofir, which took delivery of approximately 530 tonnes. Plastix in Denmark took roughly 205 tonnes while Polivektris in Lithuania received 85 tonnes. Roughly 311 tonnes were sent to Granuband in the Netherlands, with smaller volumes distributed to other specialised recycling partners.
