Hampiðjan Ísland, which handles the activities of the group’s net lofts in Iceland, has had its best year yet in terms of volumes of recycled material, with 1294 tonnes in 2024. It’s been a rapid uptick in recycling activity since 500 tonnes of gear were processed in 2021.
Working with recycling partners Plastix in Denmark, Polivektris in Lithuania and Nofir in Norway, Hampiðjan staff take delivery of gear from customers, which is graded and stripped for export, after which this material is shredded and cleaned before processing into pellets for ongoing plastic production.
Waste from the net lofts themselves, offcuts from gear production, is also sorted and any clean PE is shipped back to Hampidjan Baltic in Lithuania to be shredded, melted, and transformed into fresh plastic pellets. These are blended with virgin material at a ratio of up to 10%.
‘Hampiðjan is continuously working to find solutions for non-recyclable materials, such as mixed-fibre ropes, which currently can only be used for energy recovery. We place strong emphasis on sustainability in our operations through recycling and reusing materials,’ said the company’s environmental manager Georg Haney.
The largest portion of the recycled material handled in 2024 was nylon, around 379 tonnes, followed by approximately 250 tonnes of rockhopper rubber and just over 146 tonnes of PE. A significant amount of metal, totalling around 159 tonnes, was also sent for recycling, along with 103 tonnes of pelagic trawl warps. Smaller amounts of other materials were also recycled. The proportion of non-recyclable material amounted to 170 tonnes last year, accounting for roughly 13% of the total.
