SIMI16 points to profitable sustainability

pfrankli ♦ November 18, 2016 ♦ Leave a comment

To see the compilation video of the conference CLICK HERE:

Here are a few take aways from #SIMI16 ‘Sustainability in the Marine Industry’ conference held at Amsterdam RAI on Monday 14^th November, in association with METSTRADE and ICOMIA:
1) More boat dismantling facilities are becoming available. France and Sweden have established networks, the Netherlands government have approved a project to establish one.
2) France is moving forward in solving the ‘who pays?’ funding challenge by introducing an Eco tax on new boats from 2018, which will provide a fund for disposing of End-of-Life Boats.
3) An independent boat dismantling company in Netherlands is running profitably and disposing of around 300 End-of-Life Boats every year, with all materials responsibly handled according the H&S legislation.
3) ICOMIA, EBI, and EBA (associations jointly representing industry and users) have committed to producing an MOU setting out their recommendations and actions for handling ELB’s going forward.
4) Advances in Life Cycle Assessment methodology, and up cycling or re-use processes for composite materials (carbon fibre / FRP/GRP) are continuing apace and showing promise for the future as shown by several speakers.
5) The shift towards Circular Economy for the leisure marine manufacturing and supply chain has been acknowledged as a necessary and logical next step for the industry. And, examples of how it has been profitably adopted in other industries such as the automotive sector are being seen as positive examples that can be emulated.
6) To fully support this transition to CE, the presentations and panel debates considered examples of responsible material selection, design for disassembly, and design for holistic Wellness incorporating a connection with nature and the ocean environment. Also discussed was the need for a paradigm shift in future user demographics from boat ownership, to shared usage and all-inclusive leasing schemes.

For more information on this, and future marine sustainabaliity conferences please contact Peter Franklin via e.mail at: yachtmedia.buz@gmail.com