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It might not be the first place you'd think of when it comes to global innovation. But in the past ten years, Cornwall has become home to one of the most forward-thinking recycling models around.

Ian Falconer, 52, is one of just three people working from Newlyn Harbour to convert tonnes of used fishing nets into filament, a material which is transformed into everyday items using 3D printing - from razors to sunglasses, bicycle and motorcycle parts to furniture.

Ten years on, and Ian's company OrCa has raised more than £1 million from small investors in over 40 countries, his patented machinery converting more than 20 kilos of nylon fishing nets an hour and supplying global brands like L'Oreal and Prada.

"We've had five or six different sunglasses brands use our material," Ian told CornwallLive. "We've had electronic enclosures, artistic sculptures, shaving equipment, parts of a motorbike. We've had spares and repairs for industrial equipment. We are currently in the design processes for some very high end bicycle parts. One of our customers is currently 3D printing furniture as of our material, so it's all sorts of things."

But despite the environmental benefits, Ian, who studied environmental and mining geology at university, insists he is a "technology guy" rather than a conservationist or campaigner. And he started developing the concept of OrCa in 2016, in a bid to find an "industrial solution" to a "global problem".

"I was working on some stuff in mining and 3D printing and was looking for ways to use that knowledge in constructive ways," Ian explained. "Plastics recycling became an option and in Cornwall there are only really two sources of industrial scales of plastics. One is the domestic waste stream and the other is fishing. I looked around and the fishing industry let me in.

"After a little bit of convincing, they said, 'we know we've got a problem with our nets'. And it's a global problem. I had to look around but it was a problem that was big enough to make worthwhile addressing."

Around 150,000 tonnes of nylon monofilament fishing nets are made each year around the world, with roughly 200 tonnes produced in the UK. The nets, however, are typically only used for around six months, by which point, the slimy algae film that coats them in the water can be detected by fish and they need to be switched out.

That disposal doesn't come cheap, with those in the fishing industry charged around £300 to £500 per tonne for the privilege.

Ian explained: "This is the sort of material that landfill operators absolutely loathe. Because they tangle up the equipment on those landfill sites as they try and compact the more compactible bits and they catch on the big dozers. Landfill operators don't like taking (them) so they charge people quite hefty amounts. And the Cornwall incinerators won't take fishing nets. So it has to go up country to a landfill if it's not recycled locally."

Asked whether OrCa pays fishermen to take their used nets, he added: "We don't pay anyone in the UK for nets right now. We're saving people the money for having to pay for them for disposal. But in a global model, there are certainly places in the world that we'll be paying incentives for return of the nets to prevent them going to waste."

And fishermen in Cornwall, Ian says, are "very happy to be associated" with the idea.

"They love that they can see where their nets are going," he explained. "Because if they're just going into a skip and then get transported off, they're out of sight, out of mind. So they love that they're doing it in their community. And they love that the R&D and the development of the actual work is being carried out on the harbour side where they can see it happening."

Compared to the rest of the world, Ian says the UK is actually a "tiny customer" for nylon monofilament fishing nets and OrCa is therefore looking into ways to help other countries use their model sustainably. But this does not, Ian assures, involve bringing any nets to Cornwall from overseas.

He said: "There's no anticipation that we will bring in nets to Cornwall from overseas. One of the concerns that people have is that we start to transfer loads and loads of old nets from far off places and bring in this, that and the other. That's not the way we're working.

"The way is to export the hardware to those places so they can do it for themselves. And for the economic activity for our company in Cornwall is all about the design, the logistics, the really high value engineering and marketing and all these things that Cornwall's good at rather than trying to compete in low value jobs. So I think it's important to say that we're not pitching for the waste management sense. We're pitching for for the global engineering dollars."

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