A new project named LifeGate PlasticLess has been launched to reduce plastic waste in the sea using LifeGate Seabin devices to collect it. The aim is also to promote truly circular economic as well as consumption models centred on reducing, reusing and recycling waste, in particular the most harmful to the environment: plastics.
The LifeGate Seabin is a collection bin that floats in water and is able to capture around 1.5 kg of waste per day, equal to over 500 kg of debris a year (depending on its size and weather patterns), including microplastics from 2 to 5 mm in diameter and microfibres starting from 0.3 mm.
The device is also able to intercept a lot of the waste that often finds its way into the sea, like cigarette butts.
The LifeGate Seabin is placed in the water and fixed to a dock with the upper part of the device on the same level as the water’s surface.
Thanks to the wind’s spontaneous force as well as currents and the device’s strategic positioning, debris is sucked directly into it. The water pump connected to its base is capable of treating 25,000 litres of seawater an hour.
Waste is collected in its bag, which can hold up to 20kg, whilst water runs through the pump and returns to sea.
When the bag is full, it is emptied and cleaned. The device works 24 hours a day and is therefore able to remove more trash than a person using a collection net.
Even though it can’t be used in the open sea, as it requires electricity, it is extremely effective in areas such as ports as these are “accumulation points” in which most sea waste converges.
The project forms part of tha Seabin Project has been developing innovative technologies for waste collection since 2014.
