Get On Board And Recycle (GOBAR)

Recycling is now a part of everyone’s day-to-day life ashore and we are all becoming accustomed to recycling in our homes, but not when we go boating!

There are a number of reasons why recycling has been very slow to take off onboard leisure craft

• lack of recycling sites in marinas and boatyards.
• Difficulty in recycling and waste storage onboard small craft.
• Confusion because of differing criteria at recycling sites.

River Hamble Recycling Hub

To tackle this, a scheme that mirrors recycling in the home should be the most effective vehicle in encouraging sailors and recreational boaters to start recycling on board.

As the UK’s leading boating destination, Hamble River should take the lead in implementing a waste recycling scheme specifically for boaters. To progress this, a recycling hub partnership has been set up between The Harbour Authority, The Green Blue, Eastleigh Borough Council, Fareham Borough Council and various marinas and boatyards on the river. MDL Marinas are currently running a trial with Eastleigh Borough Council, and the Harbour Authority is running a trial with boat users. If the trials and overall scheme is a success, other boating ‘hubs’ could implement similar waste recycling schemes, aided by The Green Blue. A similar set of schemes across the country which could be easily understood by yachtsmen and boaters would be a massive boost to increasing recycling from boat owners and users.

The River Hamble Recycling Trial

March to July 2008
To help highlight and improve recycling on board small leisure craft and larger boats that use the Harbour, we are organising an onboard trial. Eight boats will be taking part in the trial and publishing their experiences on this website as monthly blogs.

The trial is aimed at helping to identify a number of issues that some crews have with recycling on board small leisure craft, such as

• Lack of storage space on board.
• Working room and conditions in the galley.
• Lack of disposal sites ashore.

To gain as much benefit from these trials as possible, information will be available on the Website and will include the following

• Monthly diary of how skippers and crews are getting on with the on-board trial.
• Lessons learnt and good recycling practices identified.
• Lists of what can be recycled and where it can be disposed of.

When new recycling locations are established in the harbour and in the Solent, they will appear on the website.

The information will remain and be updated on the website to assist crews and hopefully improve recycling on board leisure craft.