Smart tech is being trialled at Ala Wai Harbor in Honolulu, Hawai’i in the hopes of cleaning up plastic pollution.
Hawai’i Volcanic Water, a beverage and active lifestyle brand from the island state has sponsored two Seabin units that were recently installed in Honolulu’s Ala Wai Harbor.
The Seabin, invented by Pete Ceglinski and Andrew Turton of Australian clean tech start-up company Seabin Project, is a cross between a trash bin and a pool skimmer.
The Seabin sits mounted to a pontoon, slightly below the surface of the water, sucking the water through and out the bottom, catching marine debris including microplastics and microfibers. In addition, the Seabin filters 600,000 liters (158,503 gallons) per day, absorbing oily pollutants that may be found on the water’s surface.
Hawaii Volcanic Water CEO Jason Donovan said:
“We are proud to be a part of this amazing project contributing to a cleaner and greener Hawai’i. These first two Seabins are just the beginning of our plan to further partner with Seabin in deploying entire fleets of Seabins in all islands of Hawai’i, and then throughout the West Coast [of the] USA. Our company is committed to making Hawai’i, humanity and the Earth a better place through every decision we make.”
The Ala Wai Harbor pilot program has approval to initially run for six months and it is estimated that it will remove approximately 1.5 tons of microplastic, marine litter, and plastic fibers, and will filter and clean more than 218Â million liters (57.6 million gallons) of water.
The pilot is the initiative of the Seabin Project and involves the help from Haleiwa resident, big wave surfer, and Patagonia brand ambassador Ben Wilkinson for technical assistance, as well as local eco-warrior Fernando Torres, aka @greenmanhawaii, for the daily duties.
According to Seabin CEO and Co-Founder Pete Ceglinski:
“The act of cleaning up is simply not enough. To turn off the pollution tap, we are putting an equal focus on litter reduction, prevention, and clean-up and will use our Pollution Index data program for monitoring with the intention of filling key knowledge gaps needed for informed decision making.”
This pilot is the second serviced one by the Seabin Project. Last month, the company launched their first self-funded pilot in Sydney Harbor, Australia, which involves 20 Seabins. Globally, more than 1,000 Seabins have been successfully deployed so far.
Beyond collecting and removing marine litter from micro plastics to oil, and other surface pollutants, the Seabin Project hopes to replicate similar service contracts across other major harbor based cities globally. In addition to the service contracts, the pollution index data monitoring reports will be available to the City of Honolulu and other key stakeholders.
For more info about the Seabin Project, go to www.seabinproject.com.
If you want to sponsor or donate to the Hawai’i fleet, go to www.seabinsforhawaii.com.
To volunteer, send an email to Seabin Foundation COO Mahi Paquette at mahi@seabinproject.com.
