Cleaning the oceans one marina at a time

The goal of the Seabin project is to help clean the world’s oceans. Its founders, Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinski, have designed and manufactured an automated rubbish bin that catches rubbish, oil, fuel and detergents floating in the sea. It can be installed on the floating docks of marinas, private pontoons, ports and yacht clubs. The Seabin can even be fitted to superyachts. While the project has already drummed up overwhelming support in the industry, there is still a long way to go.

So how does the Seabin work? “We start close to the source of the problem in a controlled environment,” the pair explain. “The marinas, ports and yacht clubs are the perfect place to start helping clean our oceans – there are no huge open ocean swells or storms inside the marinas, it’s a relatively controlled environment. The wind and currents are constantly moving the floating debris around in our oceans and in every port, marina or yacht club there is always some pollution-heavy areas based on the predominant wind and current directions.” 

By working with these marinas, ports and yacht clubs, the Seabin can be located in the best place to catch rubbish. Situated on at the water’s surface, it is plumbed into a shore based water pump on the dock. The water then gets sucked into the bin, bringing all floating debris and floating liquids with it. The floating debris is caught inside the Seabin and the water then flows out through the bottom of the bin and up into the pump on the dock. The water then flows through the pump where there is the option of installing an oil/water separator and clean water flows back into the ocean.

Inside the Seabin there is a natural fibre ‘catch bag’ that collects all the floating debris. When this is full or near to full, the marina worker simply changes the catch bag with another one. The collected debris is then disposed of responsibly, the catch bag cleaned and now it is ready to swap again.

The design and development of the Seabin project has been based in Palma de Mallorca, which is an important location as the central hub of Europe’s marine activity. With the project currently in the final prototype phase, they have been able to team up with the Real Club Nautico de Palma in order to conduct intensive product testing. 

Right now they have a perfectly working prototype and need the help of crowdfunding engine Indiegogo and supporters to set up a production of the Seabins to be built in the most sustainable and responsible way possible. For more information about the project and how to help, please click here.

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