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The overall objective of this project is to develop a solid baseline methodology that covers all essential aspects of marine litter recovery, from in-depth collection to the valorization of the final product, closing the economic circle and contributing to a more sustainable plastic life cycle, taking into account that currently, marine litter is not properly managed, The vast majority of the garbage collected is deposited in landfills or incineration.
Repesca_Plas4 wants to demonstrate that it is possible to treat and recover marine litter collected using the currently existing facilities without the need for new investments to do so. With the intention of once the results have been obtained, seek the obligatory nature of its good management and recovery, beyond committing to the collection of marine waste by closing the cycle, supporting the Plastics Strategy for a Circular Economy.

Specific objectives of the project
1.Reduce waste present in the sea.
2. Increased technical knowledge about waste extracted from the sea.
3. Implement a comprehensive system for the collection and treatment of this waste stream.
4. Recovery and obtaining of final product with added value from plastic waste mainly.
5. To transfer technical and application knowledge to other areas of the Valencian Community for implementation.
6. To provide knowledge to society about the problem and to help prevent the generation of this waste.

The actions from A1 to A3 refer to the first necessary processes that must be carried out on the waste, being key for the activity to be carried out correctly. The waste is treated as an independent flow and is subject to collection, management and separation in the plant and characterisation to know both the entry and the effectiveness once treated in the facility.
A4 refers to processes through mechanical and chemical recycling to give a final and marketable value to the waste collected.
In the A5, there is the importance of disseminating both the results of the execution of this phase and the good practices acquired in order to shape the necessary knowledge and be able to implement it in other places.
The A6 refers to the coordination of the project ensuring that the works are carried out in the proposed period

AIMPLAS, the Plastics Technology Institute, has completed the fourth and final year of the RepescaPlas project, which has made it possible to develop a whole system for the management of plastics recovered from the sea and their subsequent recycling for the manufacture of products with commercial value.

The RepescaPlas project has made it possible to meet the objective of deepening the knowledge of marine litter, its location and typology, in order to create a whole strategy of passive fishing and management of this waste thanks to the collaboration of the fishing sector, as well as mechanisms for the recovery of the plastic fraction.

Specifically, the procedure developed begins with the removal of the waste during the fishing days of each vessel (passive fishing of waste) for its subsequent deposit in the port with weighing and labelling, temporary storage in containers, characterisation by typology and sampling of the plastic fraction according to the Marnoba methodology. Subsequently, in the laboratory, the characterisation of the material by nature is carried out, a process in which it has been observed that products made with low-density polyethylene, PET containers, as well as those made with polyamides, predominate. Finally, the plastic material is shredded, washed and dried in a recycling plant for its recovery by mechanical and chemical recycling.

One of the specific objectives within this fourth year was to focus on the creation of a controlled management system that helps ensure that waste removed from the sea can be treated at an industrial level.

In this sense, RepescaPlas4 has been a success since thanks to the collaboration of the E.Niño triage plant in Arganda del Rey (Madrid) and its infrared separation equipment, it has been possible to recover the plastic material through mechanical recycling with a quality that makes it possible to use it for the manufacture of new products at an industrial level. Specifically, in the project, three demonstrators have been developed using this recycling system that have resulted in litter bins, clipboards, planters, as well as fuel that can be used by the boats themselves thanks to chemical recycling through a pyrolysis process from the mixed fraction of the waste.