What happens to all that plastic shrink-wrap?

Each year, between clients’ boats that are shrink-wrapped for winter storage and new boats that arrive from the maker, Yachting Solutions is left with some 30,000 square feet of plastic sheeting that can’t be re-used. Or can it?

Being petroleum-based, plastic represents significant investment in refining and processing. It also doesn’t break down, so it can be an environmental nightmare. Fortunately, shrink wrap is a polymer plastic film that is 100% recyclable. To take advantage of this, we turned to a company called Maine Mobile Shrinkwrap. As it turns out, MMS not only recycles our plastic sheeting, they also help us streamline our own operations.

Maine Mobile Shrinkwrap field technicians have the materials, tools and expertise to cover any sort of boat, power and sail. They build a timber framework from bow to stern, drape the protective layer of plastic film over it and lock that down with a band around the hull. Then they heat the plastic so it shrinks tightly, creating a “custom-fit” wind- and weather-resistant shell. To prevent condensation, they install air vents in the plastic. If access if needed, they put in zipper doors.

In the spring, when we commission boats for launching, or any time we take delivery of a new boat, our own team carefully peels off the shrink wrap and packs it into bags, also plastic, provided by Maine Mobile Shrinkwrap. When we’ve amassed enough of these bags, MMS picks them up. Then all of it—bags and shrink wrap—gets compressed into bales, which are sent to a factory to be recycled into plastic decking, park benches and the like. We also keep the wooden frames for each boat so that MMS can re-use them when they return in the fall.

As so much plastic ends up in the oceans, we very much appreciate this service. If you have clean plastic sheet to dispose of, Maine Mobile Shrinkwrap will accept it at their facility at no charge. MMS will also pick up well prepared material for recycling just for the cost of travel and loading.