Just curious about above, as so many people use surfboards, Windsurfers, Kite boards, SUPS, paddle boards, kayaks, along with boats, jet skis & so much more....

They're all either made of plastic, epoxy resins, polyurethane, or some chemical induced components to "satisfy our selfish obsessions". We all love it, but like everything we, along with any type of board, have expiry dates. Where do you put your ol' dismembered, once loved, board's?

Landfill it,take it to your mates farm blow it to bits with a semi automatic shotty, KKK it at the wooden stakes , bury it, facilitate other not so ethical measures of destruction?

Surfboard recycling is there such a thing? Can our ol' neglected boards be reused for other constructive materials other than what's mentioned above? We've all got one under the house, in the shed, loft/attic, storage unit, somewhere forgotten about not knowing the right thing ethical to do with them, especially considering today's wasteful climatic issues.

Curious redrabbitz.

They go up in the rafters or under the house to gather dust for decades.

Not easy to recycle.

www.thoughtco.com/recycling-composite-materials-820337

Incineration is an option. Take it to your nearest thermal power station. Emits CO2 however, but only the equivalent of 10 litres of what your put in you antiquated IC motor vehicle if you do a return trip to a beach 50 km away.

If you surf/sail/paddle locally you can use the Carbon Offsets accrued by the long trips you didn't go on to buy as many new toys as you like - guilt free.

Foiling is thus good for the planet. Even though there's been a whole lot of new gear produced, it opens up local sailing locations to folks who might otherwise have burnt a ***load of petrol .

I tried to give away one, and nobody wanted it.
Left it on the verge, gone overnight.

I saw several in shire recycling centers

Store it for 40 years and then hang it on the wall as an antique.

Interesting answers & concepts.

Like some other more enviro conscious alternatives. There's literally 100's of thousands of boards, boats & other water craft out there beyond repairs, not worth spending time, labour & $'s on. Are we really not that interested. Is it just about who caught the largest, longest (realistically short ride) of a wave even at the longest ride point break, longest duration Windsurfing or similar. Am l looking too deep into this? Our throw away society. What can be done with shredded fibreglass, epoxy resins, polyurethane, China imported plastic kayaks, BCF junk, etc..... Totally bombarded with ocean related garbage at the end of the day. You can take your empty aluminium cans, plastic drinking bottles, etc to facilities that recycle. Now we're surely in need of recycling our water craft no matter how small or large to ethically & environmentally have these disposal venues.

Anyone with stronger views & levels of comments other than what's above.

Suggestions "welcome".

NO cross that out, "necessary".

If it has slotboxes, donate to me.

Combine them all to build giant floating-raft-states for Polynesians, Micronesians and other displaced climate refugees...?

Some of these boards had 30 years of use. Not quite a single use plastic.
Patrik has recently worked on some more environmentally friendly boards.

I think they could still have some life as the SUPs.
I'm going to teach my granddaughter how to sail on one of these older boards.

The continuous use, makes them more environmentally friendly.

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MarkSSC said..
Store it for 40 years and then hang it on the wall as an antique.

Hang enough of them and the foam will help insulate the walls. Energy and landfill savings all in one.

If they are good they go to windsurf heaven.........Imagine that...... which I'd say isn't the place where snapped UJ's go.

Paducah has set the pace with a realistic way of use.

Yes vision the mother of invention, in this case re-invention.

Why not? People use bales of hay, even old car/truck tyres with appropriate rammed earth methods to construct homes for alternative livin' lifestyle.

House of boards??, stack of cards, comes to mind.
However.
Trying getting that through Council Town planning, building practitioners, etc. Another user friendly incineration (Toxic) fireball in the making? Don't we have enough issues with inferior construction cladding being dumped here in Oz from our friendly Chinese neighbours who are now ready to blow us to micro bits as they scour our shorelines, logistical strategies in anticipation of wanting to take over this country?

Australia= made in China!

Wake up Australia.

Manufacturers should make longer lasting boards . They are getting lighter and weaker every year .Some boards are falling apart after a season or two .
You cant recycle a board .
More than half of the stuff we put in the recycle bin ends in landfill . Sadly recycling is more of a feel good thing than saving the planet . Raw plastic is about $ 2 a kilo . Just imagine the energy required to transport , sort , clean , reprocess a kilo of plastic bottles .
Landfill isnt such a big problem , we got the room . There are some bloody big holes that we dug coal out of . We could never fill them , no matter how much rubbish we have .
Rubbish in our water and air is the problem .

Dude....
In 1984, we said boards only last 2 full seasons, if we were conservative.
Same ole, same ole.....

A lot of them seem to 'end up' in my shed, which is already over capacity.
But really they are only the ones that have some significance to me.
I think even these will likely end up in Landfill eventually, or go up in smoke on the bonfire.
I have locals regularly trying to give me 30+ year old plastic boards that have been hanging in shed rafters for most of that time. Most are politely declined and probably end up in landfill.
Doing a drive around a seaside suburb before a hard rubbish collection will partly answer the question.
Almost everything that is not food we ever buy, ends up in Landfill.I dont know the true statistics, but I am guessing only a small percentage is actually recycled.

Much has been made about using some difficult to recycle materials like used concrete, glass and shredded plastics or tyres in road construction. I guess you call that recycling, but even roads are ripped up and end up in landfill eventually. Some so called recycling is just double use, which delays the inevitable. Yes, thats a good thing, but landfill is still the ultimate destination.

IMAX fully agree re "Disposable boards" they are really poorly made due to inferior weaker products being used. Had that argument with a high profile Windsurfing store here in Victoria. Prices are higher products are poorer & like you say only last a few seasons. I've still got an ol' fibre glass wave board from W.A. Wind Energy Banana nose board. In the 68'ish ltr range. It's in great shape & condition considering it's age when l bought it new in Geraldton back in the early 90's.

Unable to use due to age related issues now. I'm 61 in a few months. Bods letting me down these days but still scoot around on freeride/slalom boards. Still have fun. Find it quite remarkable how in 21' verging on 22' ,Board makers are generally o/s based & made in China, Vietnam or Thailand. Cheap labour, mass production, however compromise is Quality Control or rather lack of it. Yes they sit all lovely & glossy like stored on a display rack or shelf. Beautiful!
Use it, catapult, even fart on the board and they leave hair line fractures, dings, etc....

Bic's, Mistral, BOMBORA's yes BOMBORA's (often have a bad rap but tough,) & a few others from prior 2000 had superior constructive materials.
It's all headed towards lighter & lighter boards but look at THE J.P. GOLD VERSION. Highest price & as a store manager informed me as fragile as egg shells.

Thanks again for all your comments. We live in a weird Covid world now, & NASA has reported a gigantic meteor heading Earth bound.
Apparently they've got the technology to Aim, Direct accurate measures to Kappow the meteor.

Hope there's no malfunction!!!

Covid will be the least of our current global issues.

We're destined for the Dinosaur Dynasty once were a plentiful population, now extinct.

I just find random trees around the district and bolt them on

How about a fence?

Spoil yourself and get new windsurfing gear every now and then
If you want to make more of a difference then only buy groceries at the supermarket and takeaway food without plastic packaging on it, but be warned you may starve attempting to do this

In my shed - which is the size of a large car garage around the back of the house!

Scientists have found the bugs already making some progress in biodegrading the stuff.

www.researchgate.net/publication/343327825_Biodegradation_of_expanded_polystyrene_and_low-density_polyethylene_foams_in_larvae_of_Tenebrio_molitor_Linnaeus_Coleoptera_Tenebrionidae_Broad_versus_limited_extent_depolymerization_and_microbe-depen

That's a bit quicker than the 60 million years it took for bugs to learn how to biodegrade lignum. 300 million years ago when trees evolved lignum it allowed them to grow bigger fatter and taller. All the non-biodegradable dead trees went to landfill for 60 million years before the bugs evolved a way to recycle it. From then on bugs consumed it before it had a chance to become coal. Once we use up that 60 million years of coal production that's it. There's no more coal in the pipeline.

(Well at least that's it according to this bloke on youtube. He appears believable?)

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redrabbitz said..
Where do all the old board's end up?

Maybe they are all cut up into tiny, tiny pieces and then used as incorrectly placed apostrophes ?

Love the comments keep'em coming...
Take the Mickey out of mouse!

Life's short enjoy...if it's all too serious make like an emu, put ya head in the sand, while some low life boots you up the back end.

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Carantoc said..

redrabbitz said..
Where do all the old board's end up?

Maybe they are all cut up into tiny, tiny pieces and then used as incorrectly placed apostrophes ?

What's this tiny , tiny ?
Everyone knows it teeny , weeny .