Can you recycle boat wrap in Minnesota?

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Boats shrink-wrapped in protective plastic are a common sight during Minnesota winters.

Lindsay Freeman, who lives in Orono near Lake Minnetonka, is used to seeing them by the dozen all the time around the lake.

Recently she was wondering: “What happens to that plastic when the winter ends? Is any of it recycled?”

She wrote to Curious Minnesota, the Strib’s audience-powered reporting project, to find out.

“When spring arrives, that plastic will be taken off, and as someone who cares deeply about the environment, I hope it is being recycled,” Freeman said.

It turns out that Minnesota is a pioneer, as far as boat-wrap recycling goes. In 2024, the state became the first in the U.S. to establish something called a product “stewardship program” for boat wrap.

The stewardship law was introduced by Rep. Larry Kraft, DFL-St. Louis Park, who told the Minnesota Star Tribune at the time that “it’s a heckuva lot of plastic that right now is going to landfills across Minnesota.” He estimated that the amount of plastic removed from boats in Minnesota each spring tops 6.25 million pounds.

So far, four brands – Bioaqualife, Dr. Shrink, Husky Marine and Transhield – have signed on to the program, called Wrap Recycle Right, said Molly Flynn, an administrator for the stewardship program at the MPCA.

The old wrap gets cleaned, shredded and processed into pellets that can be used to make products like decking, outdoor furniture and trash bags, according to Wrap Recycle Right’s website.

The program’s scope will be limited this year and then expand across Minnesota over the next few years, Flynn said. The goal is to collect and recycle half of all boat wrap sold in the state by 2030 and 80% by 2035.

The new program will get its first test this spring after boat owners start cutting off the plastic and readying a return to the water. During this first year of operation, Wrap Recycle Right will be setting up a limited number of collection spots, said Flynn.

“They will accept boat wrap from any Minnesota boat owner or boat wrapping business willing to transport the boat wrap to the collection location,” Flynn said.

It does have to be clean, dry and rolled up though, she said. All the strapping has to be removed.

Before Kraft’s law launched the stewardship program, boat owners, marina operators and companies that provide wrapping services did have some recycling options.

“We have been doing it since we started in the marina business in 1991,” said Gigi Jabbour, who owns Minnetonka Marina.

At one time, recyclers sought the material and would pay Minnesota marinas for it, she said. In recent years, however, she’s had to make an appointment, drive nearly an hour to drop wrap off, and pay a fee.

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