Page 6. MAINE COASTAL NEWS May 2010
COASTAL BOATWORKS AND RECYCLING SHRINKWRAP
NEWCASTLE – Springtime at Coastal Boatworks, Inc. means recycling shrinkwrap. Millions of square yards from thousands of boats each year are gathered, stripped of non-recyclable parts (rope, vinyl, rocks and leaves) and baled for re-use in plastic manu- facturing. In the corner of its barn on Southport Island, stands an unassuming piece of equipment with a simple job; one downward push. A downstroke baler uses tremendous force to compress loose material into a dense, brick weighing over 1000 pounds. At refuse facilities this is commonly done with cardboard or cans “We’ve been doing this for more than twelve years now, beginning with just our own reclaimed waste, which was about 5000 lbs, the first year.” recounts Ben Holloway, “It just makes sense to recapture that much material rather than bury or burn it.” Disposal costs money, but in the beginning so did recycling. They had to drive to Rhode Island to find a buyer, breaking even was a good thing. Ben looks pleased when he continues, “This year we expect closer to 26,000 pounds. We travel from Kittery to Bar Harbor to pick it up. It started slowly, but it’s taking off. Over the years, we estimate 150,000 lbs of LDPE have been saved from the waste stream, that’s 75 tons of plastic.”
Shrinkwrap is the beginning of the story for the Holloway family. In 1996, Paul and Pauline Holloway bought Coastal Shrinkwrap from another family who had been shrinkwrapping in South Portland at Frost Harbor Boatyard since the 1970s. Their new business brought them to Southport, and Boothbay Region Boatyard, a top-notch establishment with high marks in Clean Ma- rina standards. “It was Jeff Lowell who asked me what we were going to do with all the used
wrap.” remarks Paul, “He started me thinking about recycling it, and we approached Boothbay Region Refuse District (BRRD) for help.” Lowell worked for Boothbay Region Boatyard at the time and decided to pay the shrinkwrappers for the removal of the mate- rial. Paul kept it clean and brought it to BRRD at a designated time for baling. Eventually, insurance liabilities became a problem for BRRD, so the Holloways bought a used baler from the Town of Falmouth. They had to repair it, rewire it and built it a home, where it’s still going strong today. Jessica Holloway remembers driving a box-truck full of bales to Rhode Island, “Mom and I went together, and I remember keeping the wrap clean was a major issue. If there is a tiny percentage of dirt, the whole bale can be refused. This was back in the late nineties when recycling was hip, but not widespread. Then in 2001, after being nominated by Allison McCrady of BRRD, CBI won a Small Business Recycler of the Year award from the State of Maine, and we thought that was a good sign.” Jessica, her brother Ben and cousin Lucas have continued to work together on large-scale shrinkwrap projects, such as The Bounty when it was being restored at Sample Shipyard. “My dad likes to do big new things, the Bounty was massive, but we covered it to the gunwales in a day. He has applied shrinkwrap in many yards for the purpose of painting or repairing different parts of boats. He’s developed ways to cover boats for travel and even has a drive-through build- ing.” Lucas bought the Southern Maine ter- ritory of the shrinkwrap business, now called Coastal Shrinkwrapping, and services the Greater Portland area and Casco Bay yards. He brings about a ton of recyclable product back each year. He wraps sailboats in the
water with masts up from a dinghy using his height to his advantage. “Its not my favorite thing to do, but somebody’s has to, and I don’t mind.” “Its a seasonal thing, we’re gang-busters wrapping boats from Septem- ber to December, then we work inside, but now we’re back out there removing the mate- rial and baling it.” Ben shouts over the hum of the machine. When the baler is full, the bales are about 3 feet tall, by 3 feet deep, by 5 feet wide and can weigh up to 1200 lbs. Using simple wires with an eye on one end, the bale is tied up while still compressed, and then ejected from the machine onto a pallet. This can get exciting when the bale rolls too far or skids, but physics is exciting when such a large mass is involved.
“Cleanliness is key,” Pauline empha- sizes. “Presently, we collect along the coast
from Kittery Point Yard, Yankee Marina in Yarmouth, Brewer’s Marine and Strout’s Point Wharf in South Freeport, Boothbay Region Boatyard in Southport, Wayfarer Marine in Camden, and John Williams in Bar Harbor. These yards help us to meet the recycling ndustry standards, by, keeping the shrinkwrap off the ground as it’s stripped (static will attract a lot of dirt just by letting it touch the ground), and cutting out the ropes, vents and doors. It can be a marketing tool, or just a best practice, either way it’s going to be standard procedure someday.” Currently the state recommends recycling shrinkwrap ma- terial if possible. “I’ve seen this stuff being made, its manufacturing process is phenom- enal” adds Paul. “And after that, it became
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