The Use of Eco-friendly Recycled Polymer Composites in Boat Building

In the last two decades, a lot of research work has been carried out with the main aim of substituting the use of fiberglass and other materials that are difficult to recycle and constitute disposal problems in composite fabrication. This is to increase the environmental friendliness of these materials, especially after their end of life use. When compared to other transportation fields, such as the aerospace and automotive industries that have replaced most of these materials, fiberglass is still hugely employed for composite fabrication in boat building. It is important that awareness is given to material selection, design, and the manufacturing processes that encompass the use of recycled materials that are engineered towards environmental safety. From the way the boats are built, often, they are constructed with materials that are not economically suitable for reuse or recycling, thereby increasing their values and the entire disposal process in order to achieve a near green ship technology. This chapter will expound the use of recyclates derived from plastic solid wastes, such as poly(ethylene terephthalate) and expanded polystyrene (EPS), a type of polystyrene used as reinforcement materials in composite fabrication for boat building. An overview of their production, properties, recycling method, current applications in composite fabrication, and challenges in boats building are highlighted, while research gaps are identified and recommendations for future studies are presented.