Applied Research Project: FRP Recycling in Marine Structures

This report investigates the application of Fibre Reinforced Plastic (FRP) in marine structures and addresses the growing issue of recycling obsolete FRP boats. It covers various aspects, including the objectives, methodology (data collection through primary and secondary sources), alternative technologies, recycling options, and a guidance plan for FRP boat recycling. The report also includes a PESTLE framework, SWOT analysis, results and discussion on FRP applications, case studies like Jacobs Well, and safety and environmental impacts associated with FRP recycling. It further evaluates the War on Wrecks initiative, examines the management of derelict watercraft, and proposes optimal disposal options, highlighting the importance of environmentally friendly recycling practices and adherence to international standards to minimize pollution and ensure worker safety. The study uses a mixed-methods approach, incorporating quantitative and qualitative data from literature reviews, expert interviews, and community feedback to provide a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and opportunities in FRP recycling within the marine environment.

APPLIED RESEARCH PROJECT
[Author Name(s), First M. Last, Omit Titles and Degrees]
[Institutional Affiliation(s)]

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Application of Fibre Reinforced Plastic (FRP) in the construction of structures of Marine usually
ranges from very small structures like boats to very big vessels like ship. The application of the
composites in the construction of the boats actually started in the late nineteen fifties. The boats
which are used in the sea are usually subjected to the considerable amount of the waves which ar
very strong forces apart from the loads of the cargo. Taking the latest development in the science
of the material, it has become possible to develop a composite material that has relevant
durability and strength in the environment of marine. As a result of the interference of various
agencies responsible for the monitoring processes and other organization of the marine, the
recycling of the obsolete boats has been a growing issue. The process o recycling existing boats
is costly as well as costly considering that their constructions were never meant for recycling
exercise. Other than reporting of the applications of composites which are non-metallic in the
environment of the marine, this particular paper has properly addressed the issue of the FRP
boats recycling. A guidance to be used in the process of the recycling has also been shared to that
effect

Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.................................................................................................................................2
INTROUCTION..............................................................................................................................................3
The war concerning wrecks database......................................................................................................6
The investigations of the field.................................................................................................................7
OBJECTIVES..................................................................................................................................................7
METHODOLOGY...........................................................................................................................................7
Collection of Data....................................................................................................................................7
Primary Data........................................................................................................................................7
The owners of the boats......................................................................................................................8
The residence within the location.......................................................................................................8
The local government..........................................................................................................................9
The companies of the marine salvage.................................................................................................9
The local business................................................................................................................................9
The secondary data.................................................................................................................................9
Sub-criteria and Criteria.......................................................................................................................9
Alternative Technology..........................................................................................................................10
Options for FRP Boats Recycling............................................................................................................11
Guidance plan for the recycling of the FRP Boats......................................................................................13
PESTLE framework.................................................................................................................................14
Methods of FRP materials recycling from boats....................................................................................16
SWOT ANALYSIS.....................................................................................................................................17
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION........................................................................................................................19
Areas of application of the FRP in the case of the structures of the Marine.....................................21
The Jacobs well..................................................................................................................................22
The Jacobs well Educat trip................................................................................................................23
FRP boas recycling processes.............................................................................................................28
Safety Risks and Environmental Impacts which involves FRP Recycling............................................28
The safety of maritime Queensland...................................................................................................30
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................30
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................32

INTROUCTION
Any boat has operating time which has been approximated to be between 25 to 30 years.
According to the existing safety regulations, boats which have existed for more than 25 years
should never be allowed to operate longer. Similarly, the cost of maintenance which is incurred
in the case of the old boats tends to make such vessels uneconomical. In order for the business to
remain economical, such kind of the old boats must be replaced by the new ones. This will not
only enhance the profitability of such companies but will also reduce the number of the number
of the accidents and damages (Dejhala & Legović 2018).
One of the ways which can be used to make old boats have economic value is through recycling
processes. This is achieved through taking the parts of the ship which are separable and
channeling them through the process of recycling. In most of the countries where fishing is
regarded as the main economic activities, the process of the boat braking has never met the
required rules of the international standards. The adopted standards have never been
environmentally friendly and they remain to be dangerous to the workers as well.
The activities of the boat recycling are supposed to comply with all the regulations other than
just paying attention to the worker’s safety. The process of the recycling should also ensure that
there are no harmful as well as dangerous materials which are deposited to contribute to the
pollution of the soil and the land in general which may constitute the areas of the sea around. In
order to achieve this, the laid proper facilities as well as the proper work procedures must be as
per the required standards.
The construction of the ferrous boat is usually achieved by the use of different materials. It has
been approximated that nearly over ninety percent of the same materials are made from the steel
materials. Some of the boat components materials are generally harmful to the ecosystem. It is

for this reason that the world attention has been shifting to the recycling of the used boats. The
hazardous wastes as well as toxic materials or wastes are usually released from the activities of
the demolition of the old boats which have been used up. This is basically the process of the boat
dismantling which originates from different elements of the boat’s body. Others may include the
materials of the stainless steel, the paint, the cargo or fuel and just the materials which are used
in the work itself.
A yard establishment is one of the approaches which have been proposed by the authorities to
promote the processes of the recycling of the boats. A green boat recycling yard is therefore a
specially designed area which has the facilities of the boat recycling. The establishment of such
kind of the facilities usually follow the permission from the environment authorizes which
evaluates their environmental protection standards before they are licensed to operate. The
process of the boat recycling will need a combination of various technologies. Some of the
technologies which will be required include cutting system, docking system, technology of
material handling and finally the system of the decoating.
Each and every technology has alternatives which can be exploited in various places of the
application in order to get the best option depending on the prevailing circumstances. The
alternatives of any technology will require criteria o selection as well as criteria of weighting.
In the period of interview of the Queensland maritime safety members who had a hand in the
war on wrecks taskforce, as well as the issues that were there during the meeting before were
also put into discussion while considering the process of identifying as well as investigating
vessel to be put into the database. The vessel identification is done depending on the feedback of
the community as MSQ has no active search programs. In some cases, a vessel can be identified

by the MSQ members of the task force especially when this happens by one or even have some
local knowledge of the region. In consideration to the investigation of these vessels immediately
after the identification, application of both submersible drone as well as flying was put into
discussion. There was a specific interest within the application of underwater submersible drone
during the investigation of the submerged vessels together with the condition of vessels under the
waterline. The discovery was that MSQ currently had some of their staff members who are
certified for the commercial application in the flying drones as an investigative purpose.
Regarding the current as well as future plan for the war on wrecks initiative, the discovery was
that the taskforce has been prioritized the vessel removal which poses a navigational risk as well
as significant pollutant risk. Within that moment the plan of expansion of the initiative scopes
such as other marine waste was not there. The lesson was that there is no new standardized
method of identification in the cases where a vessel is either derelict or not. Presently it is
entirely depending on the opinion of the individual undergoing investigation (Collins 2014).
In this period the current version of the war against wreck database was evaluated at MSQ. Like
what happen in this report, since MSQ had the entire information collected for the war on wrecks
database compiled to a very interactive map. It is very important to note that their database also
contain many information like identification details of the boat together with photographs that
have been taken away the vessel. Some of the discussed issues was the possibility of the MSQ
department of IT which produced a version having every confidential the assessments by the
student together with the Griffith staff. Some of the discussed issues were the possibility of the
MSQ department of IT which produced a version having every confidential information to be
used by future students concerning the war on the projects of wrecks.

The war concerning wrecks database
The provided database by the Queensland maritime safety consists of very useful information on
every observed vessel during the project course. The following information covers both status of
vessel as well as it location with the GPS coordinates. One of the useful information which may
be also included ranges from the vessel length, pollution or the risk of navigation only where the
owner has been identified. The other information is that the one of the type of the vessel as well
as hull material together with any added comment on any vessel. By the application of the entire
information which was provided by the database, the creation of an interactive map was done as
shown in the figure below. Which was then t be used out within the field by the application of a
mobile device so as to use in plotting the current location as to be compared to the vessels
locations in the database.
Figure 1: Figure showing the war on wreck interactive database map (Asmatulu, Twomey &
Overcash 2014). .

The investigations of the field
Depending on the number of interview in the community which were done as well as interactive
map provided using the database of the war on wrecks, many trips to the field were planned out
by the aim to investigate many issues which were covered on the war on wreck initiative like
identifying and classifying of derelict vessels together with the type or the number of vessels that
are present covered within the project scope. Six surveys were done in the region of Jacobs’s
well, Stradbroke land, Karragara island, mouth of river Logan, Bulimba creek as well as Lytton
during the period of the project. in every location, the statics information concerning the type of
derelict vessels present together with the status of the vessel to be collected through personal
information and even from the data which are given by the MSQ. Some other vessel which are
considered to be in the state of derelict but neither correspond with any point of the data as per
the provision of MSQ also to be covered within the study where appropriate.
OBJECTIVES
 To evaluate the successful mechanisms of using old or recycled components of old boats
to new boats or usage of it in other industries.
METHODOLOGY
Collection of Data
Primary Data
The data about the condition of the Australia yard for breaking boats. The data was taken in the
form of:
 Layout
 Tools and technology used

 The handling process
 Productivity
 Waste handling
 Workers of K3
This primarily relied on the interviews. The data which was obtained from the interview was
conducted by the field researchers. Before the project commencement, MSQ as well as the War
on the Wrecks taskforce which had performed a very open consultation by members of the
public where the number of issues were brought a number of mandatory implementation of the
seaworthiness inspection as well as Hull Identification of the values of all vessels. An elaborated
reading may be found on the website of the Queensland Government Maritime safety. At the end
of the project, a number of the stakeholders in the wrecks initiative war were interviewed as per
their identification (Kuppers 2017).
The owners of the boats
Some of the owners of the boat who were asked about the wrecks initiative war, the topic of the
legislation was considered to be the main topic of discussion which ended to the preliminary
MSQ conference, whereas the owners’ thought were really mixed up because most of them
expressed thoughts of annoyance having many regulations while not in water. Some of the
owners of the boats as well as the operator who may support the idea like the crew of Educat in
the Jacobs well.
The residence within the location
The people who reside in the location were interviewed concerning the project generally,
therefore leading to the topic of Wynnum.

The local government
Members of the local government were also interviewed in the period of the project where the
past, present as well as the future issues on the topic were thoroughly discussed.
The companies of the marine salvage
The Rudy maas operator was also interviewed, during the same period the marine waste issue
such as the FRP as well as that of polystyrene also came up.
The local business
A deep discussion with the local recycling businesses was created to enhance the investigation
FRP together with the polystyrene recycling technologies within Australia. While the waste from
polystyrene got from the marine firms is taken to be contaminated and is not suitable for normal
recycling.
The secondary data:
In regard t the content of the latest guidelines on different organizations as well as conventions
with the development rules on bot breaking, various sources were used. The data or the
information was obtained from:
Related Research
International Labour Organizations
Hongkong Conventions which is IMO.
Sub-criteria and Criteria
The used criteria in the determination of the factors which influence technology to be used in the
boat recycling process. Part of the criteria involved the research which had been done by certain
institutions. The criterion that was laid down was as follows:
 Health and Safety risks

 Possible environmental risks
 Internalities
 Finance
 Eksternalities
The sub-criteria which were used included the following:
 Accidents
 Ergonomics
 The Influence Of Harmful Materials
 Reduction of the pollution of water
 Reduction of the pollution of air
 Reduction of the pollution from sediments
 Income
 Training
 HAZMAT Control.
 Cost of the environmental Impact
 Training
 Image Company
 Knowledge about Technology
 Area of the Fulfillment
 Operating as well as maintenance costs.
Alternative Technology
Facilities which need green c boat recycling yard as urgent to the support include: The recycling
processes of the technology such as:

 Technology of Material handling
 Technology of decoating
 Technology of cutting
 System of docking
Figure 2: Schematic Illustrations of the recycling process
Options for FRP Boats Recycling
The options for the reuse or recycling are considered to be the general requirements for an
effective management of the wastes in connection to the recycling of boat planning. The factors
of the economy which involves recycling as well as dismantling costs, the requirements of the
regulations among others tend to influence the decisions on the options of the recyclability. The
hierarchy of the plans of the waste management in the industry of the boat recycling is properly
defined. They involve some significant options including: