Yamaha Rightwaters Launches Plastic Recycling Pilot Program

SOLDOTNA, Alaska - Working in conjunction with Nexus Fuels® of Atlanta, Ga., and Tommy Nobis Enterprises, of Marietta, Ga., Yamaha Rightwaters aims to return 10,000 pounds of Polyethylene and Polypropylene sheet plastics back into their base materials before the end of the calendar year. It will serve as a proof of concept for an envisioned national program intended to reduce plastic waste in the nation’s waterways.

Yamaha officials discussed the project in detail to an audience of conservationists, anglers and legislators at the 2021 Kenai Classic Roundtable on Recreational Fishing on August 18, 2021.

“Yamaha’s support of conservation action began almost three decades ago with the Kenai River Sportfishing Association (KRSA) and its efforts to conserve the Kenai and other rivers in Alaska,” said Martin Peters, who leads sustainability initiatives for the Yamaha U.S. Marine Business Unit. “The tradition of conservation led to the creation of the Yamaha Rightwaters sustainability program in 2019, and it’s most appropriate that we announce our latest Yamaha Rightwaters initiative during the Kenai Classic Roundtable on Recreational Fishing, an event founded by KRSA and Yamaha in 2013 as a national forum to discuss the issues and policies affecting recreational fishing.

“Water drives every Yamaha Rightwaters program,” continued Peters. “We created Yamaha Rightwaters to take on issues that affect the clean water upon which we all depend. Polyethylene and Polypropylene make up a large part of the plastic litter in our oceans, affecting the marine life that lives there. We see this effort to keep plastics out of our oceans and our landfills, and a step to assure sustainable, healthy stocks of fish in our rivers and oceans.”

Yamaha developed a reverse logistics program to return the protective covers from select boat builders, retail dealers and two of its boat production facilities, Skeeter^® Boats of Kilgore, Texas, and Yamaha Jet Boat Manufacturing of Vonore, Tennessee. The materials will ship to Tommy Nobis Enterprises, which will separate recyclable plastics from other materials, such as plastic zippers, cords and eyelets. Tommy Nobis Enterprises will then ship the material - known as feedstock in the recycling industry - to Nexus^® for processing into raw materials, which range from gasses to waxes. Those raw materials will be used for other products.

“The Yamaha Rightwaters sustainability efforts are pushing the marine industry into a new realm of conservation, and the Nexus^® team is optimistic and enthusiastic about this plastics recycling initiative,” said Jean Jordan of Nexus Fuels^®. “It’s our hope that together, we can validate this pilot program and expand it in the near future.”

“When we saw the Nexus^® pyrolysis process at work last year, we were excited and knew this was the best possible solution for these materials, some of which are difficult to recycle with other methods because they are a mixture of the two materials, both Polyethylene and Polypropylene,” said Peters. “Nexus^® is the only operation that has proven end-to-end they can economically take Yamaha Marine’s waste plastics and convert them into virgin circular polymer with partners like Chevron Phillips and Shell Chemical.”

“Of course, there is a cost,” he said. “Part of the purpose of the pilot is to determine how to reduce the cost of reverse logistics so that we are able to create a system-wide, national program.”

Yamaha Rightwaters is a national sustainability program that encompasses all of Yamaha Marine’s conservation and water quality efforts. Program initiatives include habitat restoration, support for scientific research, mitigation of invasive species, the reduction of marine debris and environmental stewardship education. Yamaha Rightwaters reinforces Yamaha’s long-standing history of natural resource conservation, support of sustainable recreational fishing and water resources and Angler Code of Ethics, which requires pro anglers to adhere to principles of stewardship for all marine resources.

Yamaha’s U.S. Marine Business Unit, based in Kennesaw, Ga., is responsible for the sales, marketing, and distribution of Yamaha Marine products in the U.S. including Yamaha Outboards, Yamaha WaveRunners, Yamaha Boats, G3 Boats and Skeeter Boats. Supporting 2,400 dealers and boat builders nationwide, Yamaha is the industry leader in reliability, performance, technology and customer service.

Nexus^®, based in Atlanta, Ga., is an end-to-end plastics recycling business – an operational, commercially scaled, continuous system. The Nexus^® plant in Atlanta is the first multi-polymer pyrolysis operation in the U.S. to receive ISCC Plus™ certification. Nexus has developed a highly efficient system built at low capital cost and without a need for catalysts or post-processing, yielding clean, ISCC Plus™ on-specification outputs. Nexus^® has converted more than 2.5 million pounds and counting of landfill-bound plastics into virgin resins for customers like Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron Phillips Chemical. Investors include Cox Enterprises^®, a $21-billion family-owned business committed to global sustainability. The Nexus^® process is efficient, environmentally friendly, and encompasses rigorous operational and business standards. The company’s operating philosophy is founded on the principle that for any recycling solution to succeed, it must be profitable, technically proven at scale, and operate as a robust stand-along business, while creating a meaningful and positive environmental impact.

Tommy Nobis Center is a Marietta-based nonprofit that helps individuals with disabilities enter or return to employment.

REMEMBER to always observe all applicable boating laws. Never drink and drive. Dress properly with a USCG-approved personal floatation device and protective gear.