NOfir is a Norwegian company specialized in collecting discarded equipment from fishing and fish farming industry, founded in 2008 with the aim of establishing a reliable and effective recycling system for discarded equipment, with particular regard to fishing nets at the end of their useful life. In 2012, within the framework of the Competitive and Innovation Program, NOfir received support from the European Union to develop the project “EUFIR – European system for collecting and recycling discarded equipment from the fishing and fish farming industry“. EUFIR aimed at establishing a robust and sustainable system for collecting and recycling discarded equipment from the European fishing and fish farming industry, by developing a network of cooperating entities which put together waste owners, transporters, dismantling sites, recyclers and other end users. In 2014, NOfir asked LCE to evaluate EUFIR project’s environmental sustainability, by assessing the potential environmental benefits coming from the collection and recycling activities of discarded fishing equipment which would otherwise be landfilled or dumped into the sea. During 2022, an update of the existing LCA was performed and enriched with an additional focus on upcycling discarded fishing nets into sports net.

  LCE performed a full Life Cycle Assessment of NOfir system at international level, considering an extended system that goes from the availability and collection of discarded fishing equipment to the production of secondary materials and valuable products after recycling operations. The following key indicators were chosen to explore the EUFIR environmental sustainability:

• - Decrease of fishing and fish farming waste equipment dumped at sea and in landfills
• - Effects of increased material recycling, with consequent o Decrease in oil consumption (raw material for virgin fishing nets) o Decrease in CO₂eq emissions.

  LCA results revealed that the prevention of fishing equipment landfilling or abandonment produced significant environmental benefits. It is estimated that after three years, the project led to:

• - coming soon

• - Coordination with Nofir Headquarters in Norway
• - LCA data collection with all the project’s partner in Norway and Lithuania