For the first time in the UK, an autonomous marine drone has been launched in Ilfracombe harbour, Devon, named the WasteShark. The shape of the device is inspired by the whale shark and can remove 1kg of waste per minute, including plastics and microplastics for eight hours at a time using its rechargeable battery. It can also extract oils and pest plants such as algae. After collection, the plastic waste will be turned into plastic pellets and used to manufacture products such as kayaks. Created by RanMarine Technology, the WasteShark is designed to be harmonious with the environment and causes no harm to wildlife. It can also collect important data about the marine environment.
Sky Ocean Rescue and the WWF are launching the WasteShark as part of their initiatives to improve Marine Protected Areas.
“Raising awareness of the pollution being caused by plastic isn’t enough. We need to take action.” –Fiona Ball, Head of Responsible Business and Sky Ocean Rescue
Here at Element Sustainability, we are proud to be involved with another of Sky Ocean Rescue’s initiatives to completely remove the use of Single-Use Plastics (SUPs) from their operations by 2020. Once again, we have been working closely with Sky and supporting the stakeholders involved in the refurbishment of the new Sky Innovation Hub at Brentwood. This comes after a successful partnership with Sky in 2018 to deliver their SUPs minimisation pilot project for the fit-out of theirnew contact centre in Leeds.
Source: Sky UK news
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