In this chapter, we assess the environmental footprint of the production of recycled plastic granulate made of waste ropes from the fishing/aquaculture industries. The end-of-life treatment of waste fishing and aquaculture gear is an important factor in solving the marine plastic crisis. The improvement of waste management on land is thought to be one of the key strategies for tackling marine plastic challenges. Moreover, in terms of the circular economy, recycling is viewed as a more desirable end-of-life treatment than incineration and landfilling. Meanwhile, it is important to understand the environmental impacts of recycling processes to avoid problem shifting. The publication of environmental impact data on the recycling of fishing/aquaculture gear can assist policy makers and waste managers, amongst other stakeholders, in making decisions about end-of-life treatments. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a standardised methodology for the assessment of the environmental impacts of a product across its full life cycle, from raw material acquisition through to end-of-life phases. In this chapter, we perform an LCA of fishing and aquaculture rope recycling. We begin with the acquisition of waste polypropylene/polyethylene (PP/PE) ropes from the fishing and aquaculture industries, move to the production of recycled granulate and end with delivery to the customer. We assess the environmental footprint of 1000 kg of PP/PE granulate across a range of impact categories, including global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential (AP), and eutrophication potential (EP). The core processes account for 40% of the total GWP emissions with the upstream and downstream processes accounting for 30% of the emissions each. A critical contributor to GWP emissions from PP/PE rope recycling comes from diesel production and consumption across the product life cycle. Finally, the global warming potential, acidification potential, and eutrophication potential of recycled PP/PE are significantly lower when compared to virgin PP and PE.

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Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) is a complex problem that causes negative ecological, economic and social impacts. In order to understand cause-and-effect chains spanning socio-economic and ecological systems and identify and assess potential improvement measures, a holistic approach is necessary. In this chapter, we introduce a framework for assessing ALDFG and aquaculture gear from commercial fishing and fish farming activities in Norway. The proposed framework integrates the Drivers, Pressures, States, Impacts and Responses (DPSIR) framework with ecosystem accounting, to assess impacts and improvement measures more holistically and explicitly. The framework includes indicators for each aspect, derived from international and national frameworks and data sets. Drivers and pressures are related to existing data sets on fishing and aquaculture production and ALDFGs, whereas the ecosystem accounting framework is used as a lens for developing the state and impact aspects of the model. A leverage points view of circular economy solutions to the problem of ALDFG is taken for the Responses aspect of the model.

The study presented in this chapter takes the quadruple helix relational perspective to develop a regional innovation cluster for fishing nets recycling and upcycling. A multi-method approach is proposed—triangulating cluster development approaches with the quadruple helix model of innovation and organisational network analysis—to explore clustering abilities by network structures that promote linkages for well-organised circular value chains, regional innovation processes, brokerage of innovative ideas and other cluster-related structures, and relational patterns.

Value chain collaboration and volunteering by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are success factors that enhance fishing gear recycling. Using multiple cases of NGOs from the Norwegian value chain of recycled plastic fishing gear, we highlight the role of NGOs in fishing gear recycling through collaborative partnerships with small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The Blue Circular Economy (BCE) project provided us with the opportunity to understudy and highlight this contextually rich phenomenon. Our study shows that sustainable value creation can be achieved through marine plastics recycling, value chain collaboration, volunteering initiatives/operations, and local innovation system (LIS) leading to new process, service, and product development. The chapter provides increased understanding of the role of NGOs within the value chain. Value chain collaboration between SMEs and NGOs stimulates innovation in the local environment (LIS) and within the industry. Collaboration drives the innovation process and enhances recycling of marine plastics. Marine plastics with a focus on waste fishing gear recycling can lead to sustainable value creation. NGOs therefore occupy a key position in the value chain not only for advocacy, but also for value creation.