Waste sails could be given a new lease of life thanks to a research project to turn plastic fibres from the sails into chemicals used in cosmetics and food products.
It is estimated that around 2,000 tonnes of polyethene terephthalate (PET) sails worldwide are decommissioned or damaged beyond repair every year, with the majority either remaining in storage or sent to landfill sites to decompose.
A research collaboration between Sustainable Sailing and the Sadler Lab, based at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Biological Sciences has now received funding to find alternative ways to process the waste using the waste sails as a raw material for high-value chemical compounds traditionally derived from petrochemicals.
“Some decommissioned sails are turned into one-off clothing pieces or bags, but there’s no large-scale solution to tackle the waste material,” said Dr Joe Penhaul Smith, founding director of Sustainable Sailing.
“This project aims to find a new circular recycling process where sailcloth can be broken down and repurposed into useful chemical compounds.
“The added benefit is that these types of compounds are traditionally manufactured from petrochemicals, so marine waste could become an alternative, more sustainable feedstock.”
This project aims to find a new circular recycling process where sailcloth can be broken down and repurposed into useful chemical compounds.
Dr Joe Penhaul Smith, founding director of Sustainable Sailing
And he explained that the next stage of the process is to transfer the research to a much larger scale, as well as working out the supply and demand dynamics to see whether it is viable to have everyday chemicals manufactured in this way.
“There is also potential to extract different chemical building blocks for other industrial uses, and we could see additional types of technical textiles being recycled in this way in future,” he added.
Dr Joanna Sadler, Chancellor’s Fellow in Biotechnology and founder of the Sadler lab, University of Edinburgh, said the research will test the viability of using a biological system to upcycle plastic fibres from sails into high-value chemicals.
“The results from our research have already had major implications for the field of plastic sustainability and demonstrates the power of engineering biology to address real-world challenges,” she explained.
The funding is through Innovate UK’s bio-based manufacturing Launchpad competition for Scotland and is also supported by the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC) and Edinburgh Innovations.
