Already 30 tons of recycled plastics!

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Watch the video showing how it works

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Circular economy for the sea and mussel farming, thanks to a mobile plant that reduces plastic by giving new life to the nets used for mussel farming. It is mounted on a container, therefore available to mussel farmers who can use it near their farms to recycle up to 300 kg of plastic per day.. It was designed and tested in Puglia and is currently in operation in Chioggia (VE). By the end of December 2024, this action of the European project Life Muscles coordinated by Legambiente will have allowed the recycling of 30 tons of socks - this is what the tubular nets inside which mussels grow are called - and will amount to over 70 tons of waste treated by June 2025. Furthermore, starting next year the plant will be used for demonstration and replication activities in other areas of Italy and abroad (Croatia and Slovenia).

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During the life cycle of the mussel, from seed to reaching commercial size, the nets are replaced to adapt to growth and, since the operation is carried out at sea, some of these may escape recovery or be accidentally dispersed, also due to extreme weather events that are increasingly frequent. To address this problem, the Life Muscles project provides mussel farmers, institutions and local communities with various technical, training, involvement and monitoring actions in collaboration with tourism operators and schools, which are essential to raise awareness of this environmental emergency and to reiterate that more effective collection and correct recycling can be the goal to aspire to for the protection of the marine ecosystem. Specifically, the construction of the new plant allows workers to significantly reduce the release of new polypropylene into the environment and to enjoy significant savings on purchasing costs.

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In fact, the socks made with recycled polypropylene were analyzed in the laboratory and showed mechanical properties comparable to those made with virgin polymer. The tensile strength and the capacity to support the load showed that an important step forward has been made for a more sustainable mussel farming, which gives economic advantages to farmers and reduces the impact on the marine ecosystem, allowing at the same time the achievement of a circular economy model.