Where boats go to die - a toxic legacy

The ocean is the final sink for most of the anthropogenic waste. Concern about accumulation of marine debris has increased in the past decades and scientists at the University of Brighton have recently uncovered a new emerging contaminant – FibreGlass reinforced plastic (FRP or GRP).

One of the main challenges to dealing with this ever growing waste stream, has been related to the indestructible nature of GRP composites; add the number of fiberglass boats that were produced in large volumes back in the 70’s and 80’s, and now reaching end-of-life, plus the lack of legislation around disposal and recycling! A perfect storm!