This Floating “Seabin” Sucks In Marine Waste

It’s hard to visit a lake, beach, or harbor frequented by people without seeing trash floating nearby. Marine waste is not only a nuisance for wildlife, but for swimmers and surfers as well. In an attempt to tackle this problem, Seabin Project is seeking funding for their automated floating trash collector on Indiegogo.

The Seabin works by pumping a constant flow of water through the top of the bin, collecting nearby trash and debris in the process. The water is filtered out through the bottom of the bin and pumped back into the surrounded body of water, while any waste is caught in the bin’s natural fiber lining. The mechanism needs to be fixed to a floating dock and connected to a shore-based water pump in order to function, so the company is mainly targeting marinas, ports, and yacht clubs.

Many of these places employ “trash boats” outfitted with nets as their way of dealing with waste, but this method can be expensive to run and maintain. The Seabins are being offered through Indiegogo for pledges of $3825 dollars or more, with delivery estimated for November of next year. In addition to working towards a future of waste-free oceans, one of the goals of the company is to manufacture their future Seabins using the same recycled plastic collected by other models. You can read about another inventive strategy for ocean waste clean-up here.