Summary
- Profile Type
- Technology request
- POD Reference
- TRFR20231005007
- Term of Validity
- 5 October 2023 - 4 October 2025
- Company's Country
- France
- Type of partnership
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
- Targeted Countries
- All countries
Contact the EEN partner nearest to you for more information.
Find my local partner
General information
- Short Summary
- A French SME develops and sells technical boat sails for ocean racing, mainly produced by the petrochemical industry. The SME intends to find second life solution for the sails and seeks a partner interested in recycling them. For example, using a sufficiently robust shredder, the sails could be cut into flakes, to be incorporated into a new product (treadmill, padding, concrete, etc.). A partner specialising in materials recycling is sought under commercial agreement with technical assistance.
- Full Description
-
The nautical sector is undergoing major change, with a transformation in usage (collaborative economy, ecological transition, etc.).
The technical sails used for ocean racing are mainly derived from petrochemicals. Sails that are no longer in use are generally stored without any secondary use.
In 2020, the French company embarked on a CSR initiative, with a team that was both aware of the issue and committed to it. The SME then launched a collaborative research and eco-design programme (2021-2025) to develop bio-sourced sails. Finally, in 2022, the company is launching a pilot project to give a second life to used sails. The aim is to find a sustainable solution for managing the end-of-life of sails in an eco-responsible way, and to reduce the number of sails landfilled or incinerated.
The SME is currently looking for a partner capable of shredding boat sails using very robust shredders. The aim is to reincorporate the flakes and reuse them as a material to manufacture other products. The sails could also be cut into pieces and used to reinforce surfaces (panel armouring, vehicle armouring).
A partner specialising in recycling plastic materials is being sought for a commercial agreement with technical assistance. - Technical Specification or Expertise Sought
-
The partner must have a slow shredder capable of shredding all types of boat sails or be able to offer a shredding service. The partner could be a supplier of robust shredders and offer technical tests for shredding sails.
Characteristics of the sails:
-variable sizes from 25 to 300 m².
-variable weights of 50-150 kg
-variable thicknesses of 3 to 5 mm
-fabric types: Hydranet, Dyneema / Black Technora, Maxilite 150, SK 250, double Taffeta laminate, Superkote 75
-fibre types: polyester, polyester+spectra, polyester+aramid, nylon, coated nylon, spectra+aramid - Stage of Development
- Already on the market
- Sustainable Development Goals
- Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
- Goal 13: Climate Action
- Goal 14: Life Below Water
Partner Sought
- Expected Role of a Partner
-
The partner we are looking for must be a specialist in recycling plastic products and must be able to offer a shredding service. The partner could also offer a shredding machine capable of shredding all types of boat sails.
The partner must have the capacity to store 1 to 2 square metres of used sails each month.
The partner must carry out tests to shred boat sails into flakes.
Ideally, the partner will propose a solution for recycling the shredded sail (equestrian floor, surface armouring, product padding, etc.). - Type and Size of Partner
- SME 11-49
- Big company
- SME 50 - 249
- Type of partnership
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
Dissemination
- Technology keywords
- 02007014 - Plastics, Polymers
- 02007005 - Composite materials
- 03004008 - Plastics and Rubber related to Chemical Technology
- 10003004 - Recycling, Recovery
- Market keywords
- 08001001 - Plastic fabricators
- 08001005 - Other fabricated plastics
- 08001004 - Fibre-reinforced (plastic) composites
- 08001006 - Processes for working with plastics
- 08001018 - Polymer (plastics) materials
- Targeted countries
- All countries