Pipe dream fulfilled
Over 1km of Marine Harvest’s old salmon pen flotation pipes have been converted into new pontoons by Fusion Marine over the last four years.
The statistics were revealed following the recent delivery by Fusion of a 121m pontoon for MH’s Maclean’s Nose seawater production site at Kilchoan, which is the fourth pontoon manufactured for the company in this way.
Utilising material from pens decommissioned to make way for Fusion’s new generation Triton containment system, the upcycling process is environmentally friendly and cost-efficient.
In that period Fusion has used around 1.3km of salvaged polyethylene (HDPE) pipe, weighing 22 tonnes, for the manufacture of pontoons for MH sites at Kingairloch, Loch Hourn, Muck and Kilchoan.
Arthur Campbell, Moorings Manager for MH Scotland, said: “We have worked closely with Fusion Marine in the construction of these pontoons to provide the access solutions we require for our farms and which also have the added advantage of being able to achieve savings by the use of recycled HDPE pens. Marine Harvest Scotland Ltd is always willing to work with suppliers who are able to recycle redundant materials and repurpose them.”
Fusion's Iain Forbes added: “This upcycling is a cost-effective and sustainable way of utilising the material from decommissioned pens. The polyethylene pipe originally used in the manufacture of the pens is incredibly strong and long-lasting and is ideally suited for the manufacture of access pontoons.”
