Why I re-invested in Fishy Filaments

I am very pleased to share the news that I have completed a follow-on investment in Fishy Filaments , an innovative technology company that makes it possible to recycle old fishing nets into ultra-low carbon raw materials for advanced manufacturing, enabling a low carbon supply of engineering-grade nylon-based raw materials and a closed loop for a circular economy.

I’ve been fortunate to e-meet Ian Falconer , Fishy Filaments’ founder, during his May 2021 funding round and I remember being really excited about what he was building. No surprise really - my investment focus is all about the three ‘Quality of Life’ pillars of Sustainability, Education and Healthcare, and Ian’s vision for not only recycling used fishing nets but also potential applications using 3D printing was nothing I’d ever heard of before. The company was still at early stages of developing its hardware tech in 2021, but I knew instantly I wanted to be part of the journey.

I don’t know how many of you are familiar with the huge environmental challenge that old, used fishing nets pose. Lost and abandoned fishing gear is absolutely deadly to marine life and makes up a major part of the large plastic pollution in the oceans. According to a report by?Greenpeace, more than 640,000 tonnes of nets, lines, pots and traps used in commercial fishing are dumped and discarded in the sea every year, the same weight as 55,000 double-decker buses. Let that sink in. Nets and lines can pose a threat to wildlife for years or decades, ensnaring everything from small fish and crustaceans to endangered turtles, seabirds and even whales. Abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear is the deadliest form of marine plastic, various experts have said, threatening 66% of marine animals, including all sea turtle species and 50% of seabirds. Ghost gear is estimated to make up 10% of ocean plastic pollution but forms the majority of large plastic littering the waters. One study found that as much as 70% (by weight) of macroplastics (in excess of 20cm) found floating on the surface of the ocean was fishing related. And as UNEP rightly points out, to address the plastic pollution scourge, governments and businesses must lead three market shifts – the reuse, recycling and reorienting and diversification of products – and embrace a circular economy. In other words, simply collecting the discarded fishing nets is not enough; we need a plan for reuse and/or reorientation.

So are there any circular solutions out there today trying to tackle this problem? The short answer is ‘yes’. The 2022 Blue Circular Technology report (which is worth a read!) provides a brief summary of available solutions:

• Fishy Filaments (UK), Aquafil (Italy), Bureo (USA), Fab&Fil (France), DSM (Netherlands), and ValorYeu (France) are developing, or at least have outlined plans to develop, hardware tech to recycle fishing nets into filament for 3D printing;
• Ocean Tech Hub LDA and Peniche Ocean Watch (Portugal) are working with blockchain provider Empower AS (Norway) for logging and tracking fishing gear once it has been collected; and
• The CircularSeas grant-funded project (Spain) is using 3D printing technology to make high performance plastic-based spare parts for the maritime industry.

However, as the report acknowledges, developing tech and commercialising tech are two (very) different things, and as a result, wider adoption of these technologies remains patchy, with many developments running in isolation and without an overarching sector vision for the future of the value chain, or how to integrate these technologies. It is also unclear how much networking, knowledge transfer and collaboration is taking place between businesses and projects (note: my working hypothesis here: very little). However, with the arrival of European Products Recycling regulation in Europe for fishing gear there will be a strong regulatory driver for change, and as global B2B markets for recycled materials of known provenance expand there will be commercial drivers too. This creates a significant (and still largely untapped) market opportunity.

So why Fishy Filaments? For me, it’s the combination of the mission (recycle and reuse of used fishing nets) and the vision (develop innovative tech to disrupt two supply chains: fisheries waste management and low carbon materials for 3D printing). Since 2016, Fishy Filaments has been developing tech to increase the carbon efficiency of two supply chains by linking them, providing secondary benefits in social and environmental issues around both. From an ambitious grassroots project back in 2016 and the formal launch of the product three years later, Fishy Filaments has developed a super localised proprietary recycling process that creates super high-quality raw materials (such as Marine Nylon?) for high value 3D printing applications such as consumables, injection moulding, etc. And on top of all this, the company’s 0rCA? family of materials opens the prospect of a common recycling loop for multi-component or multi-material structures, removing the need for a deconstruction phase at end-of-life, which in turn, massively decreases the recycling cost and enables an ultra-low carbon material loop. No question then why Fishy Filaments is now revenue generating with multiple repeat customers, has a new global distribution agreement in place with Fillamentum for 3DP filaments, and more importantly, has now proven that production from the pilot plant can be profitable on a per kilo basis (which is key to scalability and commercialisation).

Fishy Filaments’ progress since my initial investment in 2021 has been strong. The pilot plant in Newlyn produces recycled Marine Nylon? (made from Cornish fishing nets) that has 97-98% less CO2-eq emissions compared to virgin Nylon 6; and has now proven its ability to drive recycled plastic products from the pilot plant to multiple (local, international and global) customers. In the process, the 0rCA? family of recyclable materials has been expanding, both on the injection moulding side (rPA6-rCF10 pellet raw rPA6 micro-pellet) and on the 3D printing side (3DP filament +/- CF fill rPA6-rCF10 pellet); the power of the proprietary tech is such that each manufacturing tech/material combo provides a different functionality envelope, while using the same basic raw materials.

There are challenges ahead of course. Fishy Filaments need to continue on their IP/ R&D path (in what is a fast evolving regulatory environment), while in parallel building the team to drive further commercialisation. Recycling and reuse regulation is key here of course, and over the last 12 or so months, we have seen steps in the right direction - but also unnecessary complications and delays. Monitoring regulatory changes closely and being agile to capitalise on the ever complex regulatory landscape are both prerequisites to success. How the Fishy Filaments team tackles the opportunity ahead is also key: I have little doubt in Ian’s ability to continue to innovate (he has been successfully doing so since 2016), but I would like to see more focus now on Go-To-Market - the distribution agreement will help here, and so will key hirings to the team. This latest funding round will enable Fishy Filaments to build the first of three modules of the full automated prototype, provide support to execute global patent protection, and increase FTE count to drive raw material sales up to 20 tonnes per annum (based on wider base of proprietary materials within the 0rCA? family).

In summary, two years into my investment, I am very happy to have the opportunity to re-commit to Fishy Filament’s mission, and I couldn’t be more excited to see what Ian and his team will be able to achieve in the years to come!