Thousands of old fiberglass boats have a problem that metal and wooden vessels largely avoid. Once they reach the end of their lives, there are few places to take them. Now, a Rhode Island recycling project is testing an unusual solution, shredding unwanted boat hulls and sending them to a cement plant, where the fiberglass can provide fuel and replace some raw materials used to make cement, according to a report in EcoPortal. The approach offers a potential new use for a material that has traditionally ended up in landfills.
Fiberglass became popular in boatbuilding because it is strong, durable and resistant to water. Those same characteristics make old boats extremely difficult to recycle. A fiberglass hull consists of glass fibers held together by a cured thermoset resin. Unlike many common plastics, this resin cannot simply be melted down and reshaped. That leaves recyclers with a difficult separation process. Extracting useful glass fibers and resin can cost more than the recovered materials are worth.
