Marine Harvest Scotland, working in partnership with Fusion Marine, has over the last four years recycled more than a kilometre of flotation pipe from old salmon pens for use in the construction of marine access pontoons for their farm sites.
The recent delivery by Fusion Marine of a 121m pontoon for the Maclean’s Nose seawater production site at Kilchoan is the fourth pontoon manufactured for Marine Harvest Scotland in this way. Utilising material from pens decommissioned to make way for the new-generation Triton containment system, the upcycling process is environmentally friendly and cost efficient.
Around 1300 metres of salvaged polyethylene (HDPE) pipe weighing 22 tonnes has been used for the manufacture of pontoons for Marine Harvest Scotland sites at Kingairloch, Loch Hourn, Muck, and most recently at Kilchoan.
‘We have worked closely with Fusion Marine in construction of these pontoons to provide the access solutions we require for our farms and which also have the added advantage of being able to achieve savings by the use of recycled HDPE pens,’ said Arthur Campbell, moorings manager for Marine Harvest Scotland. ‘Marine Harvest Scotland Ltd is always willing to work with suppliers who are able to recycle redundant materials and repurpose them.’
Iain Forbes of Fusion Marine added that upcycling is a cost effective and sustainable way of utilising the material from decommissioned pens.
‘The polyethylene pipe originally used in the manufacture of the pens is incredibly strong and long-lasting and is ideally suited for the manufacture of access pontoons,’ he said.
