End-of-life fishing and aquaculture gear: An assessment of the potential recycling capacity in Scotland

Glossary

Aquaculture: The production of fish, shellfish, crustaceans, seaweeds or algae in a managed environment, often enhancing production beyond that which would normally be achieved naturally.

Biofouling: The accumulation of microorganisms, plants, algae, and animals on submerged surfaces.

Cage: A floating pen, normally constructed of plastic, wood or metal, supporting a meshed net containing fish for the purpose of fish farming.

Creel pot: A type of trap used in fishing, primarily to catch shellfish like crabs and lobsters. The baited traps are placed on the seabed, and the shellfish enter through funnels.

Decontamination: The removal of undesirable materials and substances from equipment.

End-of-life (EOL) gear: Fishing or aquaculture equipment that has become ineffective due to damage, wear and tear, or obsolescence and is no longer usable for its intended purpose.

Entanglement: When a marine animal becomes unintentionally caught or trapped by fishing gear, marine debris, or other anthropogenic materials.

Extended producer responsibility (EPR): A policy approach that extends a producer's responsibility for a product to the post-consumer stage of its life cycle, for example through requiring producers to pay for recycling and other forms of waste management.

Expanded polystyrene (EPS): A lightweight, rigid foam plastic made from solid polystyrene beads that have been expanded.

Flaking: The process of shredding plastic waste into small pieces called flakes, which can then be reused as raw material in manufacturing.

High density polyethylene (HDPE): A type of commonly produced plastic made from ethylene and with a relatively high density, used for plastic bottles, piping, and the replacement of wood.

Intermediate processing: The process the material needs to go through in order for it to be accepted by a reprocessors. This can include, but is not limited to material sorting, washing and shredding. Intermediate processing and pre-processing are used interchangeably.

Longline/Headline: Lines used in aquaculture to suspend the crop.

Microplastics: Extremely small pieces of plastic debris in the environment resulting from the disposal and breakdown of plastic items.

Pelletising: The process of transforming waste materials into small, uniform granules called pellets, which can then be used as a raw material in manufacturing.

Pens (Circle or square): A net or mesh enclosure, anchored to the seabed used to farm fish.

Polyethylene (PE): The most-used plastic in the world, considered a strong, lightweight thermoplastic with very good chemical resistance.

Polymer: A chemical substance consisting of large molecules made from many smaller and simpler molecules.

Polypropylene (PP): A thermoplastic polymer formed by the polymerization of propylene, characterized by good strength, stiffness, and chemical resistance.

Potters: Inshore vessels using pots, or traps to capture shellfish.

Pre-processing: See “intermediate processing”.

Recycling: A catch-all term, used in this report to encompass all of the processes involved from waste collection through to the production of secondary raw materials and in some cases, the production of new items from these secondary materials.

Reprocessing: A process, or a series of processes, which waste material undergoes so that it can be used as a secondary raw material.

Reprocessing facility: A facility that melts down waste to create new outputs, such as plastic pellets, as a raw material for manufacturing new products.

Seine net: A fishing net that hangs vertically in the water, held in place by floats on the top and weights on the bottom. It is typically pulled through the water, herding fish into a confined space.

Shredding: The process of breaking down materials into smaller pieces or fragments, often using specialised machinery.

Trawl net (demersal): A fishing net designed to be towed by a boat through the water or along the sea floor. Demersal trawl nets are shaped like a cone or funnel with a wide opening and a narrow end and are designed to target demersal fish species.

Trestles: Structures often used in shellfish farming to elevate shellfish off the seabed or shoreline.