A world-first all-concrete marina pontoon float is being trialled at Falmouth Harbour as part of moves to phase out polystyrene from its marine operations.
The new ‘Reef Float’, designed and built by Penryn-based marine engineering firm ScaffFloat, has been installed beneath an existing harbour pontoon and tested through winter storms earlier this year.
Falmouth Harbour says the trial marks a first step towards removing expanded polystyrene (EPS) floats from both leisure and commercial operations, amid growing concern over plastic pollution and microplastics in the marine environment.
Expanded polystyrene is widely used in marina pontoons due to its buoyancy, but when damaged it can break down into small beads which persist in the marine environment and are easily ingested by wildlife.
Falmouth Harbour’s environment manager Vicki Spooner said the scale of polystyrene pollution had become increasingly visible in local creeks and rivers, particularly after winter storms.
She said: ‘The amount of broken up polystyrene around our creeks and rivers – particularly after this year’s storms – is awful to see and very hard to clean up without damaging the delicate ecology of our shorelines.’
ScaffFloat developed the Reef Float as an alternative to traditional concrete-coated EPS pontoons. Its buoyant core is made from ultra-low-density waterproof concrete, encased within a high-strength engineered concrete shell.
Company founder and managing director Toby Budd said the first commercial prototype replaced a failing EPS float at Falmouth Harbour and survived January’s storms.
He said: ‘It’s also completely inert in the marine environment and 100% recyclable, so a game-changing alternative to the EPS floats currently used all over the world.’
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Falmouth and Truro MP Jayne Kirkham visited the harbour to see the new float in place and praised the innovation.
She said developing practical environmental solutions locally while creating skilled jobs was ‘a win for our marine environment and our economy’.
Falmouth Harbour chief executive Miles Carden said the harbour had made a conscious decision to move away from EPS pontoons wherever possible.
He said Reef Floats could be installed on a rolling basis as older floats need replacement and had a fully recyclable end-of-life disposal.
The Reef Float project received £284,787 in funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund through Cornwall’s Good Growth Programme.
The product has also been shortlisted for an international innovation award at Marina26, the world’s largest marina conference, taking place in Australia later this year.
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