Garbage shark removes plastic from the Thames
On March 18, 2023, the plastic-eating robot WasteShark was launched in the Middle Dock of Canary Wharf, London. This waste drone is intended to help make the waters of the British metropolis cleaner. Urban waters in particular are heavily polluted by waste, especially plastic, and there are only estimates of how much plastic waste ends up in the sea every year. According to researchers, between 307 and 925 million visible waste particles are washed into the sea via rivers in Europe alone every year.
According to RanMarine Technology, the WasteShark is the world's leading aquatic robot that removes floating waste and collects data on water quality in bodies of water. The WasteShark is battery-operated and can travel up to 5 km in the water. According to the manufacturer, it collects up to 500 kg of plastic (the equivalent of 22,600 plastic bottles), algae and pollutants per day and is completely emission-free, without producing any noise or light. After 5 km, the garbage shark has to return to the charging station, which can also be used to automatically unload the garbage. The collected waste is then recycled and reused wherever possible. There are already 30 WasteSharks in use around the world.
The drone is said to be completely harmless to animals. Since it moves so slowly, small fish, frogs, ducks or dragonflies can swim or fly out of the opening.
According to manufacturer RanMarine Technology, the aquadrone can also be equipped with sensors to record water quality data, temperature and depth measurements, thus enabling well-founded water management measures.
Waste producer pays robot
The companies RanMarine Technology, Britvic and Acqua Libra have joined forces with the Canary Wharf Group (CWG) to introduce the first WasteShark in London. Britvic pays for and operates the WasteShark. This group is a licensee for brands such as 7Up, Pepsi and Lipton iced tea (and therefore a major plastic waste producer) and produces drinks such as Acqua Libra (a plastic-free drink variant) and Tango.
Our pro.earth.conclusion: This Wasteshark can make a small contribution against littering. However, in addition to cleaning solutions, we need many more solutions that get to the root of the problem - namely producing much less plastic packaging.
Image ©️ RanMarine Technology
