Marine Harvest Scotland has recycled more than a kilometre of flotation pipe from old salmon pens over the last four years, for use in the construction of marine access pontoons for its farm sites.
The initiative, in partnership with fish farming equipment supplier, Fusion Marine, has seen the recent delivery of a 121m pontoon for the Maclean’s Nose seawater production site at Kilchoan. It is the fourth pontoon manufactured for Marine Harvest Scotland in this way.
Using material from pens decommissioned to make way for the new-generation Triton containment system, the upcycling process is environmentally friendly and cost efficient.
Arthur Campbell, moorings manager for Marine Harvest Scotland, said: “We have worked closely with Fusion Marine in construction of these pontoons to provide the access solutions we require for our farms and which also have the added advantage of being able to achieve savings by the use of recycled HDPE pens.
"Marine Harvest Scotland Ltd is always willing to work with suppliers who are able to recycle redundant materials and repurpose them,” he added.
Around 1.3km of salvaged polyethylene (HDPE) pipe weighing 22 tonnes has been used for the manufacture of pontoons for Marine Harvest Scotland sites at Kingairloch, Loch Hourn, Muck, and most recently at Kilchoan.
Iain Forbes of Fusion Marine added: “This upcycling is a cost effective and sustainable way of utilising the material from decommissioned pens. The polyethylene pipe originally used in the manufacture of the pens is incredibly strong and long-lasting and is ideally suited for the manufacture of access pontoons.”
