The article "Seabin using plastic to fight plastics" (2019)
describes the dangers of micro fibers and micro plastics in water bodies and
introduces the Seabin technology as a possible method to tackle this problem by
elaborating on its functions and discussing future improvements.
Micro
plastics and micro fibers are a big issue for aquatic life as well as for
humanity itself. These "organic pollutants", which measure up to 5mm
in diameter, are digested by aquatic life, which in turn gets eaten by us
humans. The Seabin technology functions by trapping water and filtering out the
trash. The article states that with the addition of sensors implanted onto the
Seabin, observations can be made on the amount of micro plastics and micro
fibers lying in open waters. With further improvements made to the Seabin technology,
the Seabin project aims to remove smaller particles than what they can
currently do now. The Seabin technology is more popular than other methods of
collecting garbage in our waters because the functions of the Seabin allows it
to work at a higher efficiency at collecting garbage compared to other methods.
The Seabin operates efficiently by having the ability to collect micro
plastics. The Seabin is able to remove micro plastics from the water thanks to
its catch bag being able to collect trash larger than 2mm in size. The
Interceptor made by Boyan Slat is a similar product made to collect trash in
rivers. It works by moving “the debris onto a conveyor belt, which continuously
extracts the debris from the water” (The Ocean Clean Up, 2020). While this
method allows trash to be collected at a quicker rate compared to the Seabin,
micro plastics are free to seep through the gap in the conveyor belt. Thus
while the Interceptor is able to collect more trash, it is unable to collect
micro plastics, making the Seabin a better choice since it can do so.
While not technically a feature of the Seabin, the price of the Seabin
allows it to be cost-effective. When comparing the prices of the two methods,
the Interceptor goes for 777,000 USD (Marchese, 2019), while the Seabin goes
for 4000 USD (Hicks, 2018). The huge difference in price would probably make
most customers pick the Seabin instead as it is more affordable. The Seabin is
also open for purchase to anyone while the Interceptor can only be bought by a
few companies. Overall looking at the two different methods, the Seabin would
be a better choice due to its feature which allows micro plastics to be
collected while the Interceptor does not have as it focuses more on collecting
general waste in large amounts instead. Thus, while the rivers would look
cleaner thanks to the Interceptor, the micro plastics would remain uncollected
and eventually make its way to the ocean where marine life may digest these
micro plastics, mistaking it as their food. This would end up affecting us
humans as we digest these marine lives.
However, the Seabin is not efficient in some ways due to a few design
flaws. One of the most noticeable flaws it has would be the amount of trash the
Seabin is able to collect. According to the website “Seabin Project” (2020),
the Seabin roughly captures around 3612kg each day. Comparing this to the information
on the website “The Ocean Cleanup” regarding the Interceptor, it is able to
extract 50000kg each day. This is a huge difference when comparing the two
methods. As the Seabin focuses on collecting micro plastics, it has to be very
precise in its collection and thus loses out on gathering speed, reducing the
amount of trash it is able to collect. Even so, the Seabin in my regard does
not lose out in terms of efficiency to the Interceptor as micro plastics are a
danger to our oceans as we can hardly see these micro plastics with our naked
eyes.
In conclusion, this particular feature that the Seabin has allows it to
efficiently clean out our rivers as it can catch smaller sized debris that
other methods do not, reducing the amount of micro plastic pollution we have.
Reference
Hicks R. (2018, Apr 11). The
Seabin won’t swallow Asia’s plastic pollution problem-but it’s a start. Retrieved and
adapted from
Marchese K. (2019, Oct 30). The Ocean cleanup unveils floating
garbage truck that catches plastic in rivers. Retrieved and adapted from
Seabin Project. (2019.) Seabin using plastic to fight plastics. Retrieved
and adapted from
https://seabinproject.com/seabin-using-plastic-to-fight-plastics/
https://seabinproject.com/seabin-using-plastic-to-fight-plastics/
The Ocean Clean Up. (2019) River. Retrieved
and adapted from
https://theoceancleanup.com/
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