Premier Marinas has partnered up with Portsmouth based environmental consultancy and contract manager, Helistrat, who have installed two Seabins – only the second and third in the UK so far – in Premier’s Port Solent marina to help tackle marine plastic waste and raise the profile of The Seabin Project.
Seabins are floating rubbish bins that can be used in the water at marinas, docks, yacht clubs and commercial ports. Each bin can collect up to ½ tonne of floating debris per year including microplastics as small as 2mm. A submersible water pump, capable of displacing 25 litres per hour, sucks water in from the surface. This passes through a catch bag inside the Seabin and is then pumped back into the marina leaving litter and debris trapped inside.
The Seabins are emptied twice a day. The rubbish caught is then split into two piles: non recyclable and recyclable materials, including plastics, which are sent to reprocessors. Non-recyclable material is used to offset fossil fuels in the production of energy.
The UK’s first Seabin was installed at the Land Rover BAR pontoon in Old Portsmouth at the end of 2017.
Graham Bristowe General Manager at Premier’s Port Solent and Gosport marinas comments: "Premier Marinas has long been conscious of the importance of running environmentally friendly marinas and we have efficient waste management and recycling systems in place at each of sites. Collecting plastic waste from the water has to date been a question of capturing the waste from a boat. The introduction of Seabins in our marinas is really exciting as we are now able to collect waste more frequently and efficiently. We are proud to be part of this initiative and look forward to incorporating more Seabins into our marinas in the future."
"As a business located near some of the UK’s business ports and marinas we wanted to do something to help tackle the global problem of discarded ocean plastic and raise the profile of the innovative The Seabin Project", says Ben Richardson, Trading Director at Helistrat. "The only way we are going to eliminate the 10-12 million tonnes of plastic that ends up in our oceans is by not producing this waste in the first place, but until then, we need to find ways to help minimise its impact, remedy the damage done and recycle this material."
Bianca Carr, Founder of Local campaign group Final Straw Solent adds: "We were excited to hear that two seabins are being installed in the local area. We will be working closely with Helistrat to help raise awareness and encourage businesses to also look at ways to protect our local environment and reduce the amount of plastic being produced".
The two Seabins will be officially launched at a press event at Port Solent Marina on Thursday 28 June.