Boat Recycling Questions From America
Our Boatbreakers team are always happy to discuss what we do with anyone who is interested. Our most recent set of questions was sent across by a guy in America. Boat breaking in Miami does sound a lot more glamorous than in the UK! We thought that the answers to the questions might be of interest to anyone who is interested in the topic.
Do you dismantle boats and sell the parts or are you consignment or both? Do you scrap the metal?
We collect boats from across the UK and Ireland. Once they are back in the Scrapyard we then strip any items of value from the boat to re-sell. Any metal items that can’t be resold are set aside and go into the scrap metal bin. We sell most of the parts we have on our Boat Scrapyard website or Facebook group.
What percentage of the boats are bought, donated, abandoned and how did you obtain permission to collect abandoned boats?
The vast majority of boats come to us from their last owner. They no longer want the costs of owning a boat and choose us as a responsible solution for the disposal of their vessel. Some boats we are asked to collect by the council or local authorities. But these boat have been through a lengthy legal process so the authorities can take control then scrap.
Who helps you with transportation?
Small boats we will collect ourselves on trailers. Some will arrive by water either under their own power or being towed. In general though it will be various boat transport companies who transport boats for us. Their cost is included in the price we charge.
Do you break down the fibreglass and sell the composites as a recyclate material?
No, in the UK there is no-one we can sell the end of life fibreglass to. Although this is something we hope changes in the future as it would be a game changer for end of life boat recycling.
What equipment do you use to grind them? Where did you buy it?
If the boats come back to the scrapyard they are crushed using large machinery with a five finger grab. If we have to scrap the boat on site we would usually use a reciprocating saw which was bought in a DIY store.
How do you forecast sales?
Not quite sure what sale you mean on this one. We don’t know what boats will come in to us until boat owners ask us to scrap their boats. We don’t buy boats for scrap it is a service that people pay us for.
If you are studying the processes around end of life boat disposal you are welcome to get in contact with us. All of our contact details and social media links are on this site.
Written By: Luke Edney
Luke completed a journalism degree in Brighton University and fortunately for us uses this in his communications, Facebook posts, Tweets and emails to tell all our enquirers and followers what we are up to. Without Luke we would be lost, he runs the office, keeps us organised and is like a terrier and never lets a tricky boat disposal job go un-photographed or Tweeted about.
He also manages all of our enquiries passing them to whoever in the team is the best suited to deal with it. We are teaching Luke how to drive a motorboat or sail a yacht so while he’s learning we suggest you keep out of the Solent!
When he’s not at work he’s a massive football fan (his Dad used to play for Portsmouth FC years ago) and seems to know everything there is to know about any player, anywhere. Next time you ring and he answers, think of a tricky football trivia question and ask him
Date Published: April 13, 2021
Last Modified: June 28, 2022
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