Boats' Coats Take on New Life

Literal tons of boat shrinkwrapping take on a new future through the Cape Cod's regional boat shrinkwrap recycling program.

What is boat shrinkwrap?

Nothing says spring on the coast quite like the vision of winter-wrapped boats breaking free of their shrink wrap, ready to enter a new season! On Cape Cod, tons of this shed plastic now have a path to a new life as coffee can lids, all-weather decking, and garbage bags thanks to the regional Boat Shrink Wrap Recycling program.

Every year boats ranging from kayaks to yachts are literally wrapped in heat shrunk plastic, which protects the vessels from the ravages of winter. In the spring, the wrapping gets cut off creating literally tons of waste plastic.

Can this plastic be recycled?

Number 6 shrinkwrap plastic can be recycled, typically into coffee can lids, garbage bags, and all-weather decking. However, it does not fit into standard recycling programs and  needs to be aggregated at a volume that a recycle firm finds attractive. Without this aggregation it ends up in the waste stream heading to a landfill. 

Kari Purcell from Barnstable County and Mass DEP helped connect Cape Cod municipalities to create a program that feeds the needs of a reyccle partner, thus creating a "market" for these particular plastics - some 2200 tons of them in 2023. Without this program, the plastic would end mummifying and leaching chemicals in a landfill for hundreds of years.   

How does a boat owner participate?

In 2024 the program runs from April 1 to June 30, with collection points at five transfer stations:

• Bourne
• Chatham
• Eastham
• Falmouth
• Wellfleet.

It is supported by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Sea Grant and Barnstable County.

To recycle boat shrinkwrap:

1. Remove wrap from boat by cutting along the "belly" of the boat.
2. Remove lines, windows, and zippers from plastic
3. Roll up plastic
4. Drop off plastic "burrito" at any of the five transfer station drop locations.