Last year, Yamaha Rightwaters launched a pilot program to collect and recycle 10,000 pounds of polyethylene and polypropylene shipping plastic in the calendar year.
The national program, which encompasses all of Yamaha Marine’s conservation and water quality efforts, announced that it met its goal and hopes to expand its sustainability practices in 2022.
Yamaha Rightwaters utilized a reverse logistics program to return the protective covers from builders and dealers. Yamaha said the sheet plastic came from such builders as Contender Boats, Regulator Marine, Xpress Boats, Yamaha Jet Boats, Skeeter and G3 Boats.
The materials were then sent to Nexus Fuels and Tommy Nobis Enterprises, both located in near Yamaha’s U.S. headquarters in Kennesaw, Ga., where they were converted into base materials that can be repurposed.
“Polyethylene and polypropylene constitute a substantial portion of the plastic in our oceans harming fish populations,” Martin Peters, sustainability initiatives leader of Yamaha’s U.S. Marine Business Unit, said in a statement. “This pilot program proves these plastics can be broken down in a cost-effective manner that Yamaha Rightwaters can potentially replicate on a national level.
“It also demonstrates that Yamaha builder and dealer partners are willing to become active participants in the program, further underscoring a marine industry commitment to conservation and sustainability,” he added.
