The Oceanographic Recycling Centre online

© Fabien Perault - DT INSU - CNRS

In research organisations, it is not uncommon to find oceanographic equipment stored in a corridor or building awaiting a future mission, or sometimes destined for disposal. Scientific staff often find themselves in the situation of having to dispose of it to free up space for equipment that is more suitable for their next missions.

A circular economy initiative

This is an important issue for an oceanographic park manager such as the CNRS DT INSU. Since 2015, Fabien Perault has been promoting the reuse of obsolete or outdated equipment for oceanographic use by offering it directly to professional mailing lists and to local initiatives in the field of the circular economy. The Brest FabLabs were thus able to recover some forty current meters to convert them into anemometers for practical work projects with the Petits Débrouillards. More unusually, a container even found a second life as a recording studio!

Anderaa current meter on the deck of the Marion Dufresne. TRACK campaign, 2019. © Fabien Roquet - MNHN - IPEV

Wishing to extend this approach, Fabien Perault contacted local authorities to anchor his project in the TOMORROW coalition, the community of actors in Brest Metropole committed to energy and climate transitions. The initiative also gained momentum during a presentation on 23 May to the Ti'Low COAST thematic group, which federates research actors in favour of the development of coastal low-tech instrumentation. The initiative of the DT INSU thus met the needs of this community for second-hand equipment, and the contacts made made made it possible to quickly develop a website that makes it easy to offer equipment.

In practice ... an online recycling centre

The Oceanographic Recycling Centre is therefore hosted on the Ti'Low COAST website.
In an intuitive way, it is possible to publish an ad for equipment, materials and consumables. These remain stored in their original laboratory until they are sold. Interested parties can directly contact the person in charge of the equipment, whose contact details are given in the advertisement, and come and collect it.
At present, it is only possible to offer equipment as a donation.

Advertisement published on the Recyclerie océanographique website

So that waste does not become waste, think of the Oceanographic Recyclery!

The Recyclerie can also be found on the portal for marine research infrastructures and equipment.