With millions in funding from the Research Council of Norway and Innovation Norway, Oceanize has turned plastic waste from the marine industries into quality raw materials for new products for the marine industries.
The recycling group Oceanize has invested millions in recent years to turn Norwegian plastic waste into a high-value raw material for plastic producers in Norway. More and more products for the aquaculture industry are now made from waste that the industry itself has delivered to Oceanize for recycling.
- We have come a long way on the road to circular plastic cycles in the Norwegian marine industries. Investments in competence are the key to success, says Øyvind Sandnes, CEO of Oceanize.
With NOK 8.8 million in funding from the Research Council of Norway and Innovation Norway, Oceanize has further developed the value chain that converts plastic waste into new raw materials. In particular, a unique laboratory has been set up to test and quality assure the recycled plastic raw material. The laboratory has been important in adapting the granulation line to hard plastics from aquaculture, such as discarded floating collars, walkways and feed pipes.
- It is extremely important for us to control the content of the plastic we take in and to give the recycled plastic similar properties, quality and durability as unused, virgin plastic raw material. With the support from Innovation Norway and the Research Council of Norway, we are delivering more refined and better documented granules that are now increasing the use of recycled plastic among Norwegian producers as well," says Sandnes.
Oceanize is working with several suppliers to increase the use of recycled plastics in the marine industries. Oceanize granules are already used in the walkways of Norwegian fish farms. An ongoing multi-stakeholder collaboration aims to produce the entire cage from recycled plastic within the government's very strict construction and durability requirements.
- It is impressive to see how Oceanize is helping to solve a major environmental problem - plastic in the ocean - as well as creating value and jobs. Going forward, we expect the global demand for such circular economy solutions to increase. Oceanize, and thus Norway, is uniquely well placed to meet this demand. We are pleased with the cooperation we have with the company and look forward to following it further," says Håkon Haugli, CEO of Innovation Norway.
Øyvind Sandnes, CEO of Oceanize, has clear goals to develop more industrial production lines for plastic waste from the marine industries.
- While we are working on recertifying and reusing the 5-6,000 tons of rope the aquaculture industry buys annually, rope will also eventually have to be scrapped. We are now investing NOK 45 million in our third granulation line tailored for rope. We are grateful that Innovation Norway is supporting the further journey towards increased plastic recycling in the marine industries with another NOK 15 million, so that we can increase our granulation capacity by 80 percent to around 9,000 tons a year," says Sandnes.