Cornish pioneer turns fishing nets into 3D printing materials

Targeting £150,000, the raise would be used to expand, develop, and market Fishy Filaments’ range of high-value filaments and pellets. This includes the launch of the world’s first commercially available 100% recycled carbon fibre reinforced nylon 6 powder for advanced Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) 3D printing.

Providing a fully traceable source of near carbon-neutral materials that can be used in various industries, including fashion and automotive, Fishy Filaments’ recycled materials are in high demand. There is strong interest from the injection moulding sector.

This includes validation for use by US-based engineering company Fortify in its 3D printed moulds for short-run injection moulding. Fortify specialises in rapid tooling for injection moulding, and those tools have been shown to be 100% compatible with both Fishy Filaments’ 0rCA and Longships blends.

Fishy Filaments’ materials have also been validated by US-based Nexa3D to deliver complex injection moulded parts using its dissolvable 3D printed tooling. Producing single shot injection moulds for injection moulding quality, these moulds feature multiple cavities with geometries that are not possible with conventional injection moulds.

By delivering performance parity with virgin Nylon 6, but with 97-98% less CO₂-eq emissions, Fishy Filaments has created a new means to tap into the global recycled monofilament fishing net market. This has allowed the company to radically revalue the global revenue potential of that market from around $150m per year up to $6bn, of which around $1bn per year could be directed to the communities that operate its localised recycling plants.

Aided by its new line of high-performance carbon fibre reinforced SLS 3D printing powders, which have the potential to realise a per kilo sales price more than five times that of its other profitable product lines, Fishy Filaments is further widening its markets.

Commenting on the fundraise, Founder and CEO Ian Falconer said: “We are at a very exciting point in the growth of Fishy Filaments. We have a proven range of products, an advanced R&D programme, and an established and growing base of loyal international customers ranging from 30 South Eyewear to Philips Lighting.

“We’ve undertaken trials or studies with multiple blue-chip customers, including Ford and Daimler-Benz, and are currently participating in trials with other major automotive players, including BMW. Here, high-performance components that are co-recyclable and allow for Scope 3 emissions to be addressed in novel ways are seen as highly attractive.

“Our next step is to advance the development and marketing of our next generation of 0rCA carbon fibre reinforced filaments, pellets, and powders. This will include the launch of the world’s first 100% recycled nylon PA6-CF powder, which is optimised for the highest level of performance in SLS 3D printing.

“Used to create a vast range of products, parts, and components, these powders represent a market gamechanger and will play a key part in feeding both the growth of the business and our wider global and social ambitions. This is why our latest Crowdcube fundraise is so important. It holds the key to unlocking a future with global impact.”

Set up in 2016 to recycle old Cornish gillnets into virtually carbon-free marine nylon for use in advanced engineering and manufacturing, Fishy Filaments has provided a vital second-life solution for end-of-life monofilament net; a costly problem waste.

Globally, 200,000 tonnes of end-of-life nets are either burnt, buried, or discarded at sea each year. Nets that are burnt release vast amounts of CO2, while nets that end up in the sea represent a significant and long-lasting danger to both wildlife and shipping as ‘ghost nets’, taking up to 600 years to biodegrade. Fishy Filaments’ plants have the ability to address this issue by providing a better end-of-life solution for these nets.

Turning a problem waste into an economic asset, Fishy Filaments has worked towards a future where fishermen in unregulated parts of the world can recycle their nets locally using a network of Fishy Filaments’ plants. Fitting into a 40ft container, these plants can be transported to remote parts of the world, requiring only water and power to operate.

Providing a new income stream for fishermen in these regions and an environmentally sound alternative solution for fishing net disposal, the materials arising from Fishy Filaments’ process have the potential to displace 2m tonnes of CO₂-eq emitted by new Nylon 6 production each year.

Where fishermen have had to pay for the safe disposal of their nets, Fishy Filaments aims to provide fishing fleets with a zero-cost recycling solution. This is something that it has already done for the Cornish hake fleet in its home port of Newlyn.

Saving the fishing fleet hundreds of pounds a year for every tonne of net recycled, its solution simplifies operations for harbour operators and reduces the volume of net sent to landfill, incineration, or for conventional but costly recycling.

Following recent funding, Fishy Filaments is currently scaling its business into full commercial production and is building the first three modules of its fully automated fishing net recycling plant prototype at its Newlyn base.

Aided by a £126,000 loan from the British Business Bank-backed SWIG Finance, and a recent cash grant of almost £50,000 from Cornwall Council’s Growth Hub, this automated plant will increase raw material production levels to 20 tonnes per annum in the next year, and then on to 50 tonnes a year.

Beyond this, Fishy Filaments aims to scale up its global operations by selling its proven, profit-making, chemical-free recycling plants to NGOs, local governments, and entrepreneurs internationally; building a network of production centres in coastal communities around the world.

Incorporating off-take agreements for recycled materials that are produced at these plants, this approach will provide a guaranteed and stable per kilo price to plant operators, and will deliver social, economic, and environmental benefits to hundreds of millions of people. This will provide certainty of supply for Fishy Filaments’ end markets and has the potential to enable the delivery of thousands of tonnes of high-quality raw materials to customers around the world every year.

Investors interested in the Fishy Filaments fundraise could find out more at Crowdcube.