See that, and bin it The Seabin Project

It will be too late for the Olympic games – but garbage be gone thereafter. An underwater bin that draws plastic detritus out of the sea has reached the final stages of research, and should be available in 17 countries early next year.

The Seabin was invented by two Australian surfers Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinski, who were worried about the build-up of pollution in the oceans. It is a world-wide problem typified vividly by the dirty waters around Rio, where the Olympic athletes face raw sewage and household garbage next month.

Fitted to pontoons, the submerged bins use a pump to suck rubbish from the sea surface (see video). Once full, the bins can be emptied and the plastic waste recycled.


“It catches everything floating in the water – plastic bottles, paper, oil, fuel, and detergent,” says Ceglinski.

Trials have shown that the bins are safe for fish, because they don’t go close enough to the sea surface to be pulled in.

Rubbish to riches

Spain’s Balearic Islands last week granted the team permission to trial the latest Seabin prototype, which uses a solar-powered pump, in four different ports.

The trial follows on from a successful pilot study at La Grande-Motte port in France.

Once the designers finish testing the strength and flotation properties of the new prototype, manufacturing will begin in partnership with a French marina-building company.

Marine authorities around the world have expressed an interest, and the team has signed agreements to make the bins available in 17 countries from the beginning of 2017.

Prevention versus cure

Seabins will need to be combined with multiple other approaches to beat marine pollution, says Mark Browne at the University of New South Wales. “On the face of it, it’s a very, very good thing to be doing, but waste management on land is also important,” he says.

Strategies to keep waste out of waterways in the first place include banning plastic microbeads in personal care products, installing washing machine filters to collect synthetic fibres, introducing storm water filters to trap rubbish, and improving collection services so that rubbish bins don’t overflow, Browne says.

Read more: Could a vast rubber boom clean up tonnes of ocean plastic?