How do we dispose of old fibreglass boats
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Category: Keelboat classes
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URL: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9199
Printed Date: 25 Jun 25 at 11:19am
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Topic: How do we dispose of old fibreglass boats
Posted By: ecosail
Subject: How do we dispose of old fibreglass boats
Date Posted: 12 Apr 12 at 10:54am
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I have a puzzle that affects most of us boat owners. What happens when eventually our old fibreglass boat is beyond economic repair and we need it to vanish? Landfill? Burn? Recycling fibreglass seems to be in its infancy.... So what is the answer? |
Replies:
Posted By: Kev M
Date Posted: 12 Apr 12 at 11:06am
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I don't know the answer, although I'd like it so that I can tidy up our boat park but I've been told it's a bad idea to burn fibreglass boats because you just end up with a pile of fibres on the floor which still need clearing up. I'd have though landfill is the only option, but imagine it will be costly. ------------- Successfully confusing ambition with ability since 1980. |
Posted By: Medway Maniac
Date Posted: 12 Apr 12 at 11:32am
I once processed a patent application from a Japanese company which was concerned with chewing up the g.r.p. with cutting tools so that the resulting pulp could be recycled. No idea (as ever with patents) if it ever came to anything. But the preamble to the application stressed that there was an awful lot of g.r.p. out there already that was very hard to dispose of. 
Edit: but my conscience was not so disturbed that I went out and bought a rotomould. There are some levels to which one cannot stoop. ------------- http://www.wilsoniansc.org.uk" rel="nofollow - Wilsonian SC http://www.3000class.org.uk" rel="nofollow - 3000 Class |
Posted By: alstorer
Date Posted: 12 Apr 12 at 11:38am
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burning is problematic- even if at a high enough temp to minimise nasty smoke (ie complete combustion), you're left with the glass fibre- which in a chopped strand boat will be all sorts of nasty short fibres that you don't want blowing around in the breeze. With fabrics, they'll be so distorted that you'll not be able to reuse them. And with carbon, you'll damage the fibres- though there's various companies looking at digestion methods for recovering carbon. ------------- -_ Al |
Posted By: ASok
Date Posted: 12 Apr 12 at 12:30pm
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Interesting question, but how big is the actual problem? For someone to make the effort to recycle the waste there needs to be a market for it. This waste is likely non-hazardous or inert despite the chemicals that went into the construction. Plus the volume and weight is low, so no real problem or massive cost associated with landfill disposal. You could cut up and place a few boats in one skip. I hope no-one is out there burning fibre glass boats. The fumes would be horrific and the fibre left overs would be a nightmare - especially as they could go airborne. Wouldn't fancy that in my lungs. ------------- |
Posted By: JimC
Date Posted: 12 Apr 12 at 12:43pm
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Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made; Those are pearls that were his eyes; Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange. |
Posted By: chrisclark123
Date Posted: 12 Apr 12 at 1:56pm
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My old fireball that was an insurance right off (a tree fell on it!). Removed the wooden decking then used a JCB to chop up the remaining fibreglass hull, stuck it in the back of an old landrover then took it to the local dump. Would like to be around a burning fibreglass boat! Chris
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Posted By: PeterG
Date Posted: 12 Apr 12 at 2:24pm
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Chainsaws work well - then the dump ------------- Peter Ex Cont 707 Ex Laser 189635 DY 59 |
Posted By: Rupert
Date Posted: 12 Apr 12 at 4:04pm
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Do them up a bit and sail them with the CVRDA! If they sink 1/2 way round, problem solved...
------------- Firefly 2324, Puffin 229, Minisail 3446 Mirror 70686 |
Posted By: drifter
Date Posted: 12 Apr 12 at 7:49pm
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Clearing up our dinghy park last year, we had a handful of old GRP boats to dispose of. The council tip is just around the corner, so I took an unidentifiable boat round on the trailer. They took it as I had already unloaded it, but the other seven or so they wanted to charge £80 each to put in landfill. Worth bearing in mind when calculating club berthing fees! Don't burn 'em as it's very hazardous.
------------- Stewart |
Posted By: drifter
Date Posted: 12 Apr 12 at 7:51pm
No you wouldn't. Carcinogens on sharp microscopic fibres. H&S/environmental irresponsibility. ------------- Stewart |
Posted By: patj
Date Posted: 12 Apr 12 at 8:06pm
| Ebay them and make a profit! |
Posted By: kurio99
Date Posted: 12 Apr 12 at 10:40pm
If you live on the west coast of North America, send them drifting until the US Coast Guard blows them up as a hazard to shipping.
 (If you miss the reference. They recently sunk a trawler that drifted from the Japanese tsunami. You would think that iron is the ultimate for scrap and recycling. Instead, they send all that pollution and waste to the bottom of the sea. Go figure. I suspect that one trawler probably outweighs hundreds of fiberglass castoffs in terms of waste.)
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Posted By: ecosail
Date Posted: 12 Apr 12 at 11:06pm
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I think we are all agreed - uncontrolled burning is a definite no-no... I have read that there is a company in Belgium that can superheat the old fibreglass and turn it into building material but I think there isn't enough supply.. Landfill is a short term solution, and there are some pretty nasty chemicals that could leak out over time. Pulverised fibreglass could be used as filler material in the building of new boats.... I have also read that there is some research being done for combining it with road aggregate, but the scent has gone cold on this one. Rejuvenating old boats is my preferred solution, but only delays the inevitable. What sparked this question was looking around at all the old rotting boats sat on moorings or at anchor, thick with growth and at the same time boat companies endeavouring to sell more and more boats. How big is the problem? It might not be big now, but we need to start thinking about it - and maybe get some university students working on the problem. Much of the car industry is now focused on how to recycle the old components of cars and much has been driven by government and popular demand. How long will it be before it affects the boat building industry? |
Posted By: laser4000
Date Posted: 14 Apr 12 at 4:14pm
I believe that's something you have first-hand experience of  |
Posted By: ecosail
Date Posted: 15 Apr 12 at 1:39am
| You've caught me, my disguise didn't work then?! |
Posted By: Rupert
Date Posted: 16 Apr 12 at 8:45am
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Disguise? You aren't Justin Beiber really, are you?
------------- Firefly 2324, Puffin 229, Minisail 3446 Mirror 70686 |
Posted By: Graham T
Date Posted: 16 Apr 12 at 9:21am
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You can get a lot of boats into a skip...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRWvn_wj1ZU - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRWvn_wj1ZU ------------- Osprey 55 "Tebutinnang" Osprey 1245 "Two Bob Bit" Miracle 1358 "Thumper" |
Posted By: ecosail
Date Posted: 16 Apr 12 at 11:45pm
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Close, we may share a birthday and I do look young! ------------- Yours in sailing, Chris www.ecosail.com.au |
Posted By: gordon
Date Posted: 17 Apr 12 at 11:18am
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Depends what you mean by "beyond econmic repair". Many boats are quite cheap to renovate - if you DIY. It is the labour cost that is uneconomic. Run a course on boat renovation and give the students a wreck each - that way more people get into boat owning - that expensive pastime closely associated with the cheap sport of sailing. Ensure that there are special prizes for old boats at all club racing - to spark interest in using the older boats. ------------- Gordon |
Posted By: detente
Date Posted: 17 Apr 12 at 12:36pm
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Traditionally all the old wooden boats/yachts/barges etc find their way up some creek and slowly rot away or become part of a salt marsh.
Steel or concrete hulled vessels make good breakwaters and sea defense barriers.
GRP boats (yachts in particular) end up being dumped in a similar fashion to old wooden boats by owners...however they do not rot, they become a nuisance until some authority is forced to take action to remove them cut up and take to land fill.
Not a long term solution admittedly but the only viable one at present. Systematic abandoning of old GRP yachts along our coasts is not desirable and should be discouraged....
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Posted By: ecosail
Date Posted: 17 Apr 12 at 11:32pm
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Completely agree about renovating boats - I've renovated about 5 or 6 in my time, wood and fibreglass. I'm finishing one this week... My thinking though is that we are delaying the inevitable where the old boats will eventually have to be destroyed as newer boats become more readily available. Why pick up an old shed for free that requires hours and hours of work to get it sailing again in a condition that was cutting edge in the 70's when you could spend 500pounds and get something that was in vogue in the 90's? ------------- Yours in sailing, Chris www.ecosail.com.au |
Posted By: Rupert
Date Posted: 18 Apr 12 at 8:53am
Probably because some of us are odd that way... Or maybe because there is something about designs from the 60's and 70's which is very appealing. Mind, shouldn't stop us buying later examples of them, but somehow it does... Maybe it costs a bit more than £500 for a 90's boat, generally. Does a ground up GRP boat make good insulation? ------------- Firefly 2324, Puffin 229, Minisail 3446 Mirror 70686 |
Posted By: ecosail
Date Posted: 18 Apr 12 at 9:12am
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Rupert, love it - I think I'm in the same bracket - but we are definitely in the minority! ------------- Yours in sailing, Chris www.ecosail.com.au |
Posted By: Rupert
Date Posted: 18 Apr 12 at 11:13am
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Chris, just went to the ecosail site, and now I know who you are!
Hope you are getting your Firefly Bulletins OK?! ------------- Firefly 2324, Puffin 229, Minisail 3446 Mirror 70686 |
Posted By: Wee Man
Date Posted: 18 Apr 12 at 6:20pm
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unaFyRs9alM - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unaFyRs9alM ------------- Nacra Infusion F18 |
Posted By: Menace
Date Posted: 18 Apr 12 at 7:46pm
| Thanks Wee Man, awesome video. |
Posted By: ecosail
Date Posted: 19 Apr 12 at 12:42am
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Still getting them, you're doing a great job.
Laters ------------- Yours in sailing, Chris www.ecosail.com.au |
Posted By: Juggs
Date Posted: 24 Apr 12 at 2:52pm
| Find a roundabout, park the boat on it, hill the hull with soil and plant some bulbs and flowers in it. It will provide a good display for years and be a talking point for motorists!!! Sited in the right place it makes a very good sign to indicate the sailing club site. |
Posted By: ecosail
Date Posted: 25 Apr 12 at 3:46am
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Hi there Juggs, was it intentional that the trailer became unhitched from the car and ended up on the roundabout?! ------------- Yours in sailing, Chris www.ecosail.com.au |
Posted By: drazil.tembero
Date Posted: 16 Jun 15 at 7:52pm
| A pond? |