Valorization of Waste Fishing Nets: Mechanical Recycling and Characterization of Recycled/ Virgin Blends

The fishery supply chain, encompassing fishing and aquaculture, processing, preservation, and marketing of fish products, relies extensively on plastic materials. Items such as fishing nets, crates, containers, mussel nets, and packaging are essential for daily operations, but their widespread use contributes significantly to marine litter and environmental pollution. Among them, discarded fishing nets are of particular concern, as they are typically produced from oil-derived polymers and represent a persistent source of plastic waste in marine ecosystems.

In recent years, the development of recycling technologies, especially mechanical recycling, has offered promising solutions to recover these materials and reintegrate them into new production cycles, supporting the transition toward a circular economy.

In this study, fishing nets made of polypropylene (PP) were collected and mechanically recycled. Post-consumer nets were blended with virgin PP to obtain formulations containing 10 wt% and 30 wt% of recycled material. These blends were processed by extrusion and subjected to rheological, morphological, and mechanical characterization in order to evaluate their processability and to assess their suitability for new applications.

The results demonstrate that recycled PP fishing nets can be effectively reprocessed and valorized as secondary raw materials, highlighting their potential for the development of sustainable polymer systems suitable for different applications, thereby reducing reliance on virgin plastics and mitigating environmental impacts.