Today's maritime sector mainly uses products made of metal or fossil-based plastics. These products, ranging from boats and buoys to cages and fishing nets, are often lost at sea and pollute the marine environment.
As a result, animals sometimes become entangled in them, but these materials also release microplastics and additives that end up in marine species and eventually in the human body. Because of these negative effects, the maritime sector is considered to be one of the most polluting sectors.
Flanders and France have important port facilities that host a variety of shipping companies and are centres of significant fishing activities. Both active fishing, where nets are towed by vessels, and passive fishing, where nets and cages are deployed for future collection, aim to minimise their environmental footprint. However, bottom trawling poses challenges, particularly in terms of net degradation, which results in dolly ropes and nets entering the sea. In addition, the loss of fishing gear in both active and passive methods can lead to 'ghost fishing' and further damage to the marine ecosystem.
Objectives
This project will address this challenge by investigating bio-based and/or biodegradable materials that can be used to partially replace current nets and cages used in active and passive fisheries. In a previous project, SeaBioComp (Interreg2Seas, 2019-2023), first promising results for bio-based composites were achieved at laboratory scale (TRL level 4).
It has already been shown that bio-based polylactic acid (PLA) can be processed into composites in combination with flax, and that PLA produces less microplastics than polypropylene (PP), a fossil-based polymer. We will build on these results to move to a higher TRL level (TRL-7). Other bio-based and/or biodegradable polymers will also be investigated, both for composite applications and for textile products such as nets and lint.
The aim is to demonstrate that bio-based and/or biodegradable polymers and fibres are suitable for these marine applications and have a lower impact on the marine environment and the environment in general compared to current fossil-based materials. This will be verified by testing the materials in relevant environments and subjecting them to conditions typical of the marine environment, such as ageing tests in seawater, exposure to UV light, formation of microplastics, effect of the materials on marine organisms, degradation, etc.
Finally, recycling tests and a life cycle assessment study will be carried out to calculate the environmental impact and compare it with current products.
Partners
To meet this challenge, the expertise of different partners will be combined.
For example, Centexbel and IMT NE will work together to characterise and process the biopolymers using various techniques, ranging from compounding and injection moulding to filament extrusion and 3D printing. These materials will be characterised in detail through mechanical tests as well as durability tests such as seawater ageing, biodegradation, microplastic formation and ecotoxicity thanks to the specialised laboratories of Ifremer and VLIZ.
To achieve higher TRL levels in this dossier, Centexbel, IMT NE and EV ILVO will work together to develop demonstrators, with Ifremer and EV ILVO working together to test the developed demonstrators in the marine environment and monitor their behaviour in the intended environment.
By working closely with the materials sector through Euramaterials and the marine sector through Aquimer and EV ILVO, the potential polymers, processing techniques and process requirements will be widely known, as will the product requirements for the marine sector.
These sectors will therefore directly benefit from this project by gaining new insights into possible new applications for their existing products (for the materials sector) and by being introduced to sustainable new materials as alternatives for their current products (for the maritime sector).
Project financing
Total budget
2.761.338,22 €
EFRD financing
1.656.832,90 €