Thayer Senior Launches Boat Shrink Wrap Recycling Effort

This summer one Thayer senior used a little imagination and a lot of sweat equity to create a free boat shrink wrap recycling program which benefited the entire South Shore. 

“It was really great to have an idea and then see it happen,” said Declan Bergan ’27 about his summer project, Cohasset Recycles, which started slowly but ended up collecting boat shrink wrap from roughly 50 boats located in marinas across 15 or 16 South Shore towns. In all, Bergan’s self-run program kept an estimated 1,500 pounds of plastic out of area landfills. 

The good news about boat shrink wrap — which is used to cover boats after they’ve been pulled from the water — is that the wrap is made of a very durable plastic, ideal for keeping watercraft protected from harsh New England winters. Such durability is also the bad news because that type of plastic can’t be placed in a traditional single-stream recycling bin. 

Bergan sought and received help from family and friends, and he partnered with companies such as Abington-based Troupe Waste & Recycling and Brockton-based Republic Services, but the Cohasset native did most of the grunt work himself — getting the word out, scheduling pickups, and eventually driving from marina to marina in his truck to collect the plastic. He then drove the boat shrink wrap to Republic’s Brockton facility, which has the machines needed to break down the durable plastic into smaller, more manageable pellets (called “nurdles”). Those pellets are then repurposed into traffic cones and other industrial plastic products. 

Bergan’s path to recycling boat shrink wrap was not a straight one. As a rising sophomore, he served as an intern at the Massachusetts State House where he worked with the Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources; in that role, he was tasked with researching boat shrink wrap in service to a proposed bill to dispose of and recycle the product. 

“I didn’t even know what it was at first,” acknowledged Bergan. 

But he did his homework, and after his internship had ended, he even testified at the State House on behalf of the bill, which would have created a statewide system of disposal/recycling. Alas, the bill failed, with the sticking point, as it often is, being who would pay for such a system — boat owners, taxpayers, etc. 

“That’s the nitty-gritty politics of it,” said Bergan. 

But the story didn’t end there. Armed with newfound knowledge on the seriousness of the issue and feeling a strong connection to the water as a resident of a coastal town, Bergan created Cohasset Recycles from scratch. 

“It was a mission for me to follow up on that unsuccessful effort and make the change myself,” the senior said. 

Bergan soon garnered media attention for his efforts — including from Channel 5, WGBH, and the Cohasset Anchor — and reached out to the aforementioned family, friends, and business partners to get things rolling. He was even able to convince his parents, after some discussion, to let him keep an industrial-sized dumpster at the family’s Cohasset home. 

“They were very supportive of the issue, and they were very proud of the end result,” Bergan said with a smile. He added that seeing that dumpster almost overflowing at one point was a highlight of the summer. 

As boating is the most seasonal of activities, Cohasset Recycles has paused its efforts right now, but Bergan said he’ll be back at it next summer. He’s even recruited his younger brother in the boat shrink wrap recycling cause, he said. 

“I’ll keep this moving forward,” Bergan said. “The real goal is expanding it and creating a bigger impact.” 

When he’s not thinking of ways to recycle industrial plastic, Bergan finds the time to play boys varsity soccer and coed varsity golf, where he is captain of both squads.