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Publication - Research and analysis

End-of-life fishing and aquaculture gear: potential recycling capacity assessment

Published
1 May 2026
Directorate
Marine Directorate
Topic
Environment and climate change, Marine and fisheries
ISBN
9781807751180

An assessment of the current and potential future recycling capacity in Scotland, able to deal with the known and likely volumes of end-of-life gear produced annually from the fishing and aquaculture sectors.

View supporting documents Supporting documents

Appendix A: Tables of data used in charts and maps

Table 13: Estimate of annual waste generation from commercial fishing and aquaculture gear in Scotland (tonnes per annum)
Sector Metal Nylon PE PP PS / EPS Other materials (including PVC and rubber)
Fishing 994 402 3,203 469 145 110
Aquaculture 1,031.1 67.5 142.3 453.9 2.7 31.3
Total 2025.5 469.9 3345.5 922.8 148.1 141.1
Table 14: Total annual waste arising for PE and PP by main fishing ports and local authorities
Local authority Main commercial fishing port/harbour PE annual waste arising (TPA) PP annual waste arising (TPA)
Aberdeenshire Aberdeen 5.28 14.8
Fraserburgh 13.25 37.16
Peterhead 6.75 18.93
Angus Arbroath Harbour 3.93 14.81
Argyll and Bute Campbeltown 10.88 34.71
Oban 7.86 25.08
Dumfries and Galloway Kirkcudbright 2.76 10.17
East Lothian Port Seton 2.08 7.19
Falkirk Grangemouth Port 0.21 0.76
Fife Pittenweem 4.56 15.7
Highland Kinlochbervie 1.96 5.95
Lochinver 2.8 8.49
Mallaig 2.52 7.64
Scrabster 8.79 26.6
Ullapool 8.33 25.2
Portree 7.39 22.37
Inverclyde Greenock 0.08 0.27
Moray Buckie 1.96 5.41
North Ayrshire Ardrossan Harbour 1.81 5.65
Orkney Kirkwall 14.26 53.61
Outer Hebrides Stornoway 16.47 51.93
Scottish Borders Eyemouth 3.02 10.59
Shetland Islands Lerwick 10.96 40.92
South Ayrshire Ayr 2.4 6.68
West Dumbartonshire Dumbarton 0.17 0.53
Total . 142.4 453.9
Table 15: The number of licensed aquaculture sites by Scottish local authority and the maximum biomass allowed by licenses
Local authority Number of licensed aquaculture sites Sum of maximum biomass allowed (tonnes)
Argyll and Bute 76 107,524.64
Outer Hebrides 92 117,827.40
Highland 102 137,920.35
North Ayrshire 1 1,154.00
Orkney Islands 36 44,570.74
Shetland Islands 137 148,604.08
Total 444 557,601.21

Contact

Email: anne.saunders@gov.scot

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