The team at the Seabin Project are bringing the manufacture of their marine debris collection technology back to Australian soil, with production of the latest model set to begin in Brisbane in June.
The Seabin Project came about from a simple idea: “If we can have rubbish bins on land, then why not have them in the water?” Co-founders Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinski set about answering this question, ultimately creating the Seabin – an innovative device that removes marine debris such as trash, oil, fuel and detergents floating on the surface of marinas or waterways. The company was launched in 2015.
The Seabin moves up and down with the tide collecting floating rubbish. Water is sucked in from the surface and passes through a catch bag inside the device, with a submersible water pump capable of displacing 25,000 litres per hour. The water is then pumped back into the marina, leaving litter and debris, including micro-plastics down to 2mm, trapped in the catch bag to be disposed of properly. Each Seabin can catch an estimated 3.9kg of floating debris per day, or 1.4 tons per year – the equivalent of 90,000 plastic bags, 35,700 disposable cups, 16,500 plastic bottles, and 166,500 plastic utensils per year. The possibility of fish being caught? According to the Seabin team, this is highly unlikely.
The Seabin Project has now partnered with Evolve Group, an Australian-owned advanced plastics manufacturer, to re-engineer, develop, manufacture and produce the latest version of the Seabin. The Seabin Project is aiming to fully utilise recycled plastics in the manufacture of the device and with recycled fishing nets expected to make up 100% of the body of each Seabin. The Seabin 6.0 will have a range of improved digital features, which will allow waste and water to be analysed upon entering the bin.
“We are extremely excited to begin the process of bringing both our IP and manufacturing to Australia in June this year,” says Ceglinski, now the CEO of the Seabin Project. “Evolve Group has already become a trusted partner in the development of Seabin 6.0 and the switch to injection moulding enables us to build a far superior and smarter product using recycled plastics with far less steel structure. Manufacturing will now only be a two-hour drive away, allowing our team to become hands-on in the design and development process.”
Based in Crestmead, in Brisbane’s southern suburbs, Evolve Group provides a full range of services from plastic injection, compression, blow and rotational moulding, design and prototyping assistance, through to tool manufacture, component construction and finished goods assembly. At its ISO9001-accredited facility, Evolve Group focuses on product design and development as well as an extensive manufacturing division. The team at Evolve Group boasts almost half a century of experience in international design, revolutionary manufacturing techniques and commercialisation.
With the help of a Made in Queensland grant, Evolve Group has in recent years upgraded its machinery to transform it from a traditional manufacturing plant into a world-leading, advanced, automated facility. The company retained and retrained its employees in high-value, knowledge-based jobs, and its workforce has undergone rapid growth with every new product it has begun manufacturing in Queensland. Evolve Group prides itself on being able to keep manufacturing jobs in Australia, at cost-effective prices comparable to overseas competitors, and exports to more than 128 countries around the world.
The Seabin Project will be utilising Evolve Group’s injection moulding technology, which will remove up to 70% of stainless steel that was previously required, and will allow for the utilisation of Netplus (a plastic made from recycled fishing nets). The injection moulding will allow sensor technology and digital monitoring structures to monitor the contents of the bins, but to also monitor water temperatures, PH levels and more. The partnership between the Seabin Project and Evolve Group will further promote job growth in Australia, as none of the manufacturing will be completed off-shore.
“We are extremely proud to be helping another Aussie brand bring their design and manufacturing work back to Australian shores, with the new Seabin 6.0,” said Ty Hermans, Managing Director of Evolve Group. “The fact that the Seabin team is committed to using the right materials such as Netplus is fantastic, and it sets a benchmark for other Australian companies to follow.”
With $5m worth of its devices currently in operation in 52 countries, the Seabin Project recently launched a major fundraising drive. The campaign, conducted with the Australian equity crowdfunding platform Birchal, raised upward of $3m in its first four days in March. The company had previously raised $400,000 via Indiegogo in 2016.
The team hopes their work will inspire businesses and individuals alike to think about their recycling habits. Ceglinski has announced that the company will increase its research into the recycling of the plastics collected by the Seabin device. Another priority for the company is keeping its carbon footprint as low as possible – by manufacturing on Australian soil, the Seabin 6.0 will be produced with less energy and fewer materials, and will be less bulky for optimised shipping.
Public concern over the effect of plastic waste on marine life has increased substantially in recent years, as media reports on the issue have surged. In March, scientists discovered a new deep-sea crustacean species located 7km below the surface in the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench, between Japan and the Philippines. The scientists later named the species ‘Eurythenes plasticus’, due to the plastic found in the contents of the crustacean’s stomach.
Ceglinski stresses that removing plastics from the ocean is only part of the solution in tackling the issue: “The issue of plastics in our oceans is everybody’s problem, so it’s going to take everybody to become the solution. The way we look at it is that tech is not a solution, education is the real solution. Plastic has a value and can be reused again and again, if we were all just a little bit smarter about plastics, we wouldn’t have it floating around in our oceans.”