Problem:
Garbage is always to be found floating near ports and harbours, private marinas and yacht clubs.
Solution:
Seabin was invented and developed by two Australian ocean lovers, Andrew Turton, skipper, boat builder and surfer and Pete Ceglinski, surfer and industrial designer in injection-molded plastic products.
Witnesses of the damage caused by plastic pollution across the globe, they chose to devote their energy to find effective solutions and to carry out educational actions to change behaviors.
They developed a “trash skimmer” whereby rubbish and debris are brought into a bin thanks to a submersible water pump capable of displacing 6,600 gallons per hour (25,000 LPH (liters per hour), plugged directly into a 110/22v outlet. They are then collected in a catch bag which is removed and replaced.
The product was tested for four years and never had fish caught up in the bin. Although Ceglinski has taken out a patent, he was not the first. In 1992 Louis W. Pasoz obtained a patent for Apparatus and method for removal of floating debris.
The design and development of the Seabin project is based in Palma, Mallorca, Spain at the design center “The Sea” a factory space set up for creatives. The Sea has office and meetings space, an events gallery and a workshop area ideal for the Seabin project.
The Palma Mallorca location is important for the Seabin project, being the central hub of Europe’s marine industry and also having quick international access.
Following trials in France at La Grande Motte, Seabins built of recycled materials by Poralu Marine, were soon being trialled at various European ports. In 2017, the major shipbuilder, Wärtsilä signed up, as the first big industrial company, to partner with the Seabin Project and donated 35 Seabins to various locations globally.
By 2019 there were over 60 Seabins in Europe from the UK to Liguria, including the canals of Paris and Swiss Lake Lugano.
Three Seabins in Toronto, Canada are the first to be installed in a North American harbour. By 2019, following a video campaign which went viral, SeaBins are in use in 52 countries around the world which have collected more than half a million tonne of marine litter.
Before long, Seabins had arrived at Pete Ceglinski’s native country with the installation of two Seabins in the Port Macquarie Marina, New South Wales, Australia. The purchase of the first Seabin was made possible through a NSW EPA litter grant, the first one in Australia to be used for the purchase of Seabin clean technology.
Seabin is also supported with a seed investment by Australian marine technology development company Shark Mitigation Systems Pty. Ltd. (SMS). SMS has technology partnerships with Google and Australian telecommunications company Optus, and is on a pathway to IPO listing on the Australian Stock Exchange.
Visit us tomorrow for Solution 275: WasteShark
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