GREEN BOATING BLOG
Boats built from recycled plastic: how a Dutch scouting group makes sustainability float
When you think of boat building, you probably think of fibreglass moulds, epoxy fumes and an annual sanding-and-painting marathon. A scouting group in Hoorn, in the Dutch province of North Holland, is showing there is another way: boats built from recycled plastic.
From subsidy to four boats
Scouting Vaandrig Peetoom Vendel received a sustainability subsidy from the province in 2021 and used it to develop and build its first boat from recycled plastic. Four boats later, the impact of that one grant is still growing.
The club got hands-on help from the Clean 2 Anywhere foundation, which builds boats from recycled plastic together with people who are at a distance from the labour market — a social enterprise angle that makes the project doubly sustainable. The boats are known as ECO-Vlets: sturdy sloops whose hulls are made from plastic waste instead of new materials.
Why recycled plastic works so well on the water
The biggest win is not even the environment — it is maintenance.
- No painting, ever. Recycled plastic hulls do not need paint or antifouling, which saves an enormous amount of work, materials and volunteer hours every season.
- More time for what matters. As scout leader Chris Seggelink puts it: "Because we spend less time maintaining the boats, we have time left for the fun things."
- Waste becomes a boat. Plastic that would otherwise be downcycled or burned gets a second life floating on a lake, carrying children who will remember it.
- Sustainability by example. The children in the club learn about circular materials not from a lecture, but from the boat they step into every week.
That combination — low maintenance for volunteers, a circular material stream, and an educational story — is exactly what makes recycled plastic interesting beyond scouting too. Small harbours, nature organisations, sailing schools and yacht clubs all struggle with the same equation: lots of boats, little budget, and maintenance work that never ends.
How the funding works
The subsidy scheme behind the project has existed since 2020 and is explicitly aimed at small-scale, sustainable initiatives. Foundations, associations and educational institutions can apply. Per project, a maximum of €5,000 is available, and the grant may cover at most 80% of the total project cost — so a genuine own contribution is part of the deal.
The lesson from Hoorn is encouraging: the application was not difficult at all, according to Seggelink. "It is a sustainable project, and that fits scouting well. We try to teach the children about sustainability in a playful way."
If you are part of a water sports club, a youth organisation or a sailing school with a fleet of tired old dinghies, a regional or provincial sustainability grant plus a recycled-plastic boat builder might be the cheapest refit you will ever do.
Photo: ECO-Vlet via NH Nieuws.
