Repurposing End-of-Life Marine Ropes
Aug 26, 2025
Giving Marine Gear a Second Life
In the marine industry, high-performance ropes are essential for demanding applications like towing, vessel mooring, and offshore operations. Due to the durability required, rope form factor, and contamination that use at sea generates, traditional recycling approaches are unavailable, these materials can’t be placed with curbside recyclables once their useful life comes to an end. This lack of an industrial solution makes landfill diversion for users of high-performance ropes challenged today. Samson Rope Technology, Inc. and Ocean Legacy are collaborating to tackle solutions to this recycling challenge and are excited to announce consumer products made from used marine rope.
At Ocean Legacy’s Plastic Pollution Emergency Response Facility in Richmond, BC, retired High Modulus Polyethylene (HMPE) ropes previously used as vessel mooring and towing lines are processed using advanced recycling techniques. The fibrous materials are densified into a usable form, which is then repurposed into functional and durable items.
Initial material processed by Ocean Legacy came from Samson Rope’s Innovation Center in Ferndale, WA. These are end-of-life ropes, recovered and tested to assess residual strength and validate retirement thresholds or performance after unexpected events. The goal is that this initial success can translate into a broader scaled collection and used ropes can have a second life in a new application.
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Without proper recycling or disposal pathways, these materials risk becoming part of the growing plastic pollution problem, with high probability to end up in waterways and become ghost gear. One concept to address this challenge is through Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), this approach holds producers accountable for the full lifecycle of their products, from production, to end-of-life management. Although there are infrastructure challenges for an effective EPR system, it’s proper implementation is both possible and impactful.
Ocean Legacy Foundation welcomes Samson Rope as a member of its Marine Plastic Management Program to demonstrate that landfill diversion for previously unrecyclable materials in the marine sector can be achieved.
Growing New Possibilities
One of the first applications for recycled HMPE is in vertical growing towers that support the growth of different types of plants. These beautiful structures serve as living proof that with innovation and collaboration, waste can become a resource that serves a purpose as a product.
This exemplifies how cross-industry cooperation can keep complex materials out of landfills and waterways, creating circular solutions and providing a new recycled resource.
Read more about Samson's Sustainability efforts.
About Samson
For 145 years, Samson has been a worldwide leader in developing and manufacturing high-performance ropes. Today, Samson engineers continue to pioneer new fiber technology and create innovative coatings and constructions to produce ropes and systems with unprecedented performance characteristics for a diverse customer base. For more about Samson and the markets we serve, visit www.samsonrope.com. Samson is part of Wind River Holdings® portfolio of operating companies.
Contact:
Dustin Heins - Samson
Product Manager - Innovation
dheins@samsonrope.com