Recycling technology for disused FRP boats in cement burning process

More than 45 years ago, Fiber Reinforced Plastics (FRP) was successfully applied to the main parts of small boat structures. At present the total amount of the disused FRP boats is estimated to be about 5,000 tons, that is to say 7,000-12,000 boats in total number, per year. They are, including the sunken boats, often unlawfully left on the river or at the port. On the other hand, the concern in Japan for the recycling of waste materials has increased enormously in recent years. This is because the lack of the space for 'landfill' has become serious, and the 'Recycling Law' has been effective since 1993. Therefore, the treating and the recycling of the disused FRP boats are also the keen social issues. Many investigations on disposal of the disused FRP boats were made in 1973 and the 1980s. As a result, several apparatuses for waste disposal or recycling were developed for disused FRP boats. However, they were not commercialized because of the high cost. Since fiscal 2000, we have carried out the project named 'Sophisticated Recycling System for Disused FRP Boats'. We established the new recycling system for the crashed FRP pieces of disused FRP boats, which are used as fuel and raw materials in the cement burning process without any other residue. And the recycling plant was developed to mix FRP with recycling oil as moistener.