EU funds "SeaClear2.0" project for waste disposal in the sea

EU funds "SeaClear2.0" project for waste disposal in the sea

01.06.2023

The EU is contributing around eight million euros to the "SeaClear2.0" project, with which a group of European scientists aims to combat marine pollution among other things with the help of an autonomous robot system. The four-year project will involve three major pilot tests in the Mediterranean Sea before the autonomous system is deployed.
 

In the project, entitled "SeaClear2.0," a consortium of European scientists wants to further develop an autonomously operating robot system to collect waste from the surface and from deeper regions of the seas. The four-year follow-up project to "Scalable Full-cycle Marine Litter Remediation in the Mediterranean," or "SeaClear," reportedly began on January 1, 2023. The original SeaClear system consists of autonomous driving and flying devices that identify and collect marine litter from the air and underwater. Like its predecessor, the follow-up project called "SeaClear2.0" will be funded under the European Union's Horizon Europe programme. SeaClear2.0 is said to go beyond purely technical innovation to include social solutions in an integrated approach and involve people in the fight against marine litter. Apps, clean-up campaigns and exhibitions, among other things, are intended to raise awareness among the population. Project participants also aim to increase the value of the waste materials through better sorting and recycling solutions, as well as contribute to scientifically based political decision-making. The further technological development, building on SeaClear1.0, will make it possible to work in both very shallow and very deep regions of the seas, he said. The system consists of a combination of flying drones, diving robots, autonomous boats (USV - Unmanned Surface Vehicle) and custom-built automatic grabs. The robot system, which is equipped with artificial intelligence, is said to be able to identify, locate and pick up waste autonomously. The system's performance is said to have been significantly enhanced compared to SeaClear1.0, enabling it to lift heavier items or detect microplastics, for example. The new, improved system will be presented in three large-scale trials and tested in three pilot trials in the Mediterranean Sea.
 
The consortium of "SeaClear2.0" consists of 13 partners in nine countries and combines different competences e.g. in public participation, policy making, sensor and control in robotics, artificial intelligence, marine and diving technology and processes as well as waste sorting and recycling. The project is coordinated by Delft University of Technology (Netherlands). Partner institutions include (in alphabetical order): Fraunhofer Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V. (Germany), Hamburg Port Authority (Germany), Isotech Ltd. (Cyprus), M. Danchor Ltd. (Israel), Regionalna Agencija Dunea (Croatia), Subsea Tech (France), Sveuciliste u Dubrovniku (Croatia), Technische Universität München (Germany), Técnicas y Obras Subacuáticas (TECNOSUB, Spain), Universitatea Technica Cluj-Napoca (Romania), Venice Lagoon Plastic Free (Italy) and Veolia (France).
 
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