Taiwan is turning a major source of fishing waste into a potential resource, with researchers transforming discarded foam fishing floats into reusable plastic materials.
The Ocean Affairs Council said the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) has successfully converted foam fishing floats into plastic pellets suitable for manufacturing, marking a new step in Taiwan’s effort to reduce marine waste and promote a circular economy.
The project combines recycling technology with efforts to encourage the fishing industry to reduce the use of disposable foam materials and return discarded fishing equipment for proper collection.
Fishing Waste Makes Up a Major Share of Coastal Trash
According to Taiwan’s Ministry of Environment, fishing waste accounted for as much as 70% of coastal waste in 2024, with foam floats making up 31.5% of that waste, the Ocean Affairs Council said.
Foam floats used in distant-water fishing can eventually be discarded, burned or buried, creating both waste-management and environmental challenges.
Rather than treating the material solely as waste, the new approach seeks to recover the usable plastic and return it to manufacturing.
From Discarded Floats to New Products
ITRI’s work focuses on converting the foam material into reusable thermoplastics that can be processed into plastic pellets.
The Ocean Affairs Council said the government has also been working with fisheries and recycling companies to increase collection and improve the tracking of discarded fishing equipment.
Collection points have been established at fishing ports, while disposable items are labelled and tracked as part of the effort.
The aim is to create a more complete system in which fishing materials are collected after use, processed and eventually returned to the production cycle.
Test Manufacturing Is Now Underway
The recycled material has not yet become a mass-market product.
According to the Ocean Affairs Council, test manufacturing is currently underway, with authorities exploring potential everyday applications for materials recovered from fishing waste.
The council is also encouraging consumers to consider everyday products made from reclaimed plastics, potentially helping create demand for recycled materials.
A Bigger Push Toward a Circular Ocean Economy
Taiwan’s latest initiative reflects a broader effort to address marine debris by combining waste collection, industrial technology and changes in fishing practices.
Instead of simply removing discarded materials from the coastline, the approach seeks to give those materials another economic use.
If the test-manufacturing phase proves successful, discarded fishing floats could move from being a persistent waste problem to becoming a source of reusable raw material.
WWC ONE MEDIA G,A
