Boat Shrink Wrap Recycling Program

KEEP CONTAMINATION OUT OF RECYCLING

WHOI Sea Grant partners with Cape Cod Cooperative Extension and transfers stations at towns across the Cape to conduct an annual boat shrink wrap recycling program. Over the years the program has expanded from a single container in a WHOI parking lot to collection sites across Cape Cod. Collection totals have risen from one ton in 2018 to 46 tons in 2024.

Clean shrink wrap should be bundled like a sleeping bag.

The 2024 Collection Program

Facilities ONLY accept clean shrink wrap
April 1 - June 30

WHOI Sea Grant has partnered with Barnstable County, and five towns across the Cape to collect and recycle boat shrink wrap.

Cape residents: Bring your clean, rolled shrink wrap to the transfer station in Bourne, Chatham, Eastham, Falmouth, or Wellfleet April 1 through June 30. Thanks to the generosity of the participating towns and partners, there is no charge for this program.

Locations and hours

Bourne Int. Solid Waste Management Facility
Mon.-Fri., 7 am - 3 pm;
Sat., 7 am - noon
Route 28
201 MacArthur Bvd.
Bourne, MA 02532

Chatham Transfer Station
Thurs.-Tues., 8 am - 4 pm
97 Sam Ryder Road
Chatham, MA 02633

Eastham Transfer Station
Sat.-Wed., 7:30 am - 3:30 pm
555 Old Orchard Road
Eastham, MA 02642

Falmouth Waste Management Facility
Tues.-Sat., 8 am - 2:30 pm
458 Thomas B Landers Rd
East Falmouth, MA 02536

Wellfleet Transfer/Recycling Center
Fri.–Tues., 8 am – 3:30 pm
370 Coles Neck Road
Wellfleet, MA 02667

CLEAN WRAP ONLY: The wrap must be free of all non-shrink wrap material, including the plastic straps used to cinch the wrap to the belly of the boat. The best way to remove shrink wrap is to cut the wrap above the strap around the belly of the boat, so the straps fall away, leaving only shrink wrap. Watch our video to see how it works. Contaminated material will not be accepted.

When recycling boat shrink wrap

Please follow these important instructions

Remove all rope, strapping, wood frames, doors, zippers, and other non-shrink material.
Shrink wrap should be clean and dry.
Bundle shrink wrap and tie it using a strip of shrink wrap.
For more details, watch our "how-to" video.

Video: 2024 Recycling Convoy & Results

The Cape Cod towns of Bourne, Chatham, Eastham, Falmouth, and Wellfleet hosted drop-off sites for boat shrink wrap. In 2024, the county-wide program coordinated by WHOI Sea Grant and Cape Cod Cooperative Extension resulted in the diversion of 25 tons of plastic from landfills or incinerators. The program facilitated the recycling of an additional 21 tons of wrap through commercial waste haulers.

Video: 2023 Collection Results

Past Programs

2023

In 2023, WHOI Sea Grant again partnered with Barnstable County and the towns of Bourne, Chatham, Dennis, Eastham and Wellfleet to collect and recycle 22 tons of shrink wrap. The costs for transporting the material to the MRF and the tipping fees were paid for by the five participating towns. A special thank you goes out to them for their staff time and their willingness to cover the costs.

2022

In 2022, WHOI Sea Grant again partnered with Barnstable County and the towns of Bourne, Chatham, Dennis, Eastham and Wellfleet to collect and recycle 5.5 tons of shrink wrap. Thanks to a group of AmeriCorps volunteers who carefully went through all the wrap to remove contamination in the form of plastic ties, plastic vents, zipper doors, and ropes, we had the cleanest collection we've ever had. We worked with a Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) operated by Republic Services, who baled the wrap and sold it on the commodities market. The costs for transporting the material to the MRF and the tipping fees were paid for by the six participating towns. A special thank you goes out to them for their staff time and their willingness to cover the costs.

2021

In the spring of 2021, Woods Hole Sea Grant partnered with Barnstable County, the towns of Bourne, Eastham, Chatham, Dennis, and Wellfleet, and MacDougalls Boatyard in Falmouth to conduct a free shrink wrap recycling program. Together we recycled approximately 15 - 20,000 lbs of boat shrink wrap.

The program received hands-on support from a summer student fellow from UMass Amherst, who presented a summary of her internship in August.

» See presentation

2020

In 2020, Woods Hole Sea Grant and its partners at Cape Cod Cooperative Extension reluctantly made the decision to cancel the 2020 boat shrink wrap recycling collection due to the uncertainties around the COVID virus and an abundance of caution for the public and our volunteers at the recycling collection points.

In 2020 we conducted a shrink wrap use and alternatives survey among Massachusetts boat owners, marinas and boat yards. Funded by the national Sea Grant program and the NOAA Marine Debris program, the survey results will be posted in 2021.

2019

In 2019, together, we recycled 3.6 tons of plastic shrink wrap. Woods Hole Sea Grant is grateful to the towns of Bourne, Dennis and Eastham for hosting our containers at their transfer stations, to Covanta for sponsoring our Public Service Announcement and “how-to” video, and to AmericCorps and our other volunteers for their help ensuring the shrink wrap was clean and properly bundled for recycling.

2018