Recycle old rope.

[thinwater]

Thank you that is useful.
Perhaps I can pusuade our local harbours to participate.
It is dreadful to see old rope just left or burnt. It is wastful to dump in landfill.

I've found that if you leave old rope (not rubbish old docklines, but something useable) coiled by the skip it is generally gone within hours to minutes. If it is rubish (not reusable) then the polymer is probably so degraded by time and UV that it is no longer a recyclable material (the material itself is less strong than a plastic bottle).

It isn't wasteful if it is truly used up.

 

[Sandy]

Thank you that is useful.
Perhaps I can pusuade our local harbours to participate.
It is dreadful to see old rope just left or burnt. It is wastful to dump in landfill.

It is a start. I am planning to buy Marlow Blue Ocean® Doublebraid for all future requirements.

BLUE OCEAN® DOUBLEBRAID

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

Better to re-use it.
Not sure it has any recycling value when it's been out in the sun for ten years.

Perhaps you are confusing recycling with reusing or repurposing. Reusing modern rope, made from man-made fibre would not be advisable with old stuff that has been out in the sun for 10 years, not for any serious loadbearing purpose anyhow, but perhaps repurposing for decorative effect. Recycling really means dismantling down to basic fibres and using them for some other useful purpose like used to be done with hemp rope in earlier times, when it was reduced to hemp fibres for use in caulking.

 

[Mr Don]

I always check the boatyard skips for useable lengths of rope, especially at the start / end of season.
Always good for dinghy painters, halyard mousing lines, mooring jackstays etc.

It is good to take re-usable stuff out of skips. But where can we recycle unusable rope?

 

[Mr Don]

Perhaps you are confusing recycling with reusing or repurposing. Reusing modern rope, made from man-made fibre would not be advisable with old stuff that has been out in the sun for 10 years, not for any serious loadbearing purpose anyhow, but perhaps repurposing for decorative effect. Recycling really means dismantling down to basic fibres and using them for some other useful purpose like used to be done with hemp rope in earlier times, when it was reduced to hemp fibres for use in caulking.

Polyester and nylon can be reused an infinite number of times. The polyester running rig on my little boat it made from recylced rope and bottles. But where can I send or drop off 10 year old ropes I have no need of.

 

[thinwater]

Several people have explained this, but one more time:

After a nylon or polyester rope has been in the sun for 10 years, the UV has degraded the chemistry of the polymers to the point where it has no (zero) recycle value. It is rubbish. Additionally, how is the recycler supposed to distinguish bits of nylon from polyester or polypropylene in a time-effective manner? They cannot. So just make sure it is "used up" before it goes in the skip.

Sorry, but recycled rope is NOT made from old ropes. Recycled ropes are made from plastic (PET) water bottles, which are polyester that has NOT been in the sun long and is not UV damaged.

The "infinite number of uses" has some truth with metals and glass, but not polymers. They break down at the molecular level and cannot re remade.
---
Having built (engnieer) several recycling plants of different types, I can tell you that one of the greatest operating costs will always be the sorting and disposal of things we told people were NOT recycleable, but they put it in the recycle bin anyway, because it made them feel better. Do NOT put anything in recycle bins that is not specifically identified by the recycler (not the maker) as recyclable; it just hurts the whole recycling system by driving up costs. It does NOT increase the amount that is recycled.

 

[sailaboutvic]

This is what we do with old ropes , not a great photo but it give you an idea .
Time we also give them to other as winter mats

 

[duncan99210]

Other patterns are available... Ive got quite a number of these: some are in use as footmats, others are used to stop wear (eg stop the passerelle from wearing the deck).

 

[Mister E]

View attachment 112732
View attachment 112733
Other patterns are available... Ive got quite a number of these: some are in use as footmats, others are used to stop wear (eg stop the passerelle from wearing the deck).View attachment 112732View attachment 112733

They look fantastic.
Our son does stuff like that but not as nice. He works in the Climbing Industry.
This has given me an idea of getting 3 ropes and platting them together. Then I could splice the ends for mooring purposes.