Yamaha Rightwaters Tackles Plastics
Yamaha Rightwaters has launched a pilot program to collect and recycle 10,000 lbs. of polyethylene and polypropylene shipping plastic in the calendar year.
The resource conservation division of Yamaha Marine announced the project at yesterday’s 2021 Kenai Classic Roundtable on Recreational Fishing.
“Water drives every Yamaha Rightwaters program,” Martin Peters, sustainability initiatives leader of Yamaha U.S. Marine Business Unit, said in a statement. “Polyethylene and Polypropylene make up a large part of the plastic litter in our oceans, affecting the marine life that lives there. We see this effort to keep plastics out of our oceans and our landfills, and a step to assure sustainable, healthy stocks of fish in our rivers and oceans.”
Jeff Gold of Nexus Fuels holds a beaker of recycled liquid from Yamaha shipping plastic that can be repurposed into other materials. (Photo: Business Wire)
Rightwaters is utilizing a reverse logistics program to return the protective covers from builders and dealers. The materials will then be sent to Nexus Fuels and Tommy Nobis Enterprises, both located in near Yamaha’s U.S. base in Kennesaw, Ga., to convert the plastic into base materials which then can be repurposed into other materials.
“The Yamaha Rightwaters sustainability efforts are pushing the marine industry into a new realm of conservation,” said Jean Jordan of Nexus Fuels. “It’s our hope that together, we can validate this pilot program and expand it in the near future.”
If the pilot program proves successful, Rightwaters envisions a national program intended to reduce plastic waste in the nation’s waterways.
