Seabin: for a sea clear of plastic waste.

Our seas are dying. Every year, the amount of plastic in the world's oceans increases: at this rate, there will be more plastic waste in the sea than fish by 2050.

Every year, 8 million tonnes of plastic ends up in the oceans.

It is an alarming situation, and we need intelligent and efficient solutions, such as the Seabin initiative, part of the LifeGate PlasticLess project.

The aim is to safeguard the aquatic environment, for a cleaner sea.

Alarm over plastic and microplastics in the oceans

The problem of plastic pollution is not only on the surface of the water.

Marine animals end up ingesting minute fragments of plastic: a serious danger for their health, and ours too.

Indeed, many of these fish or shellfish end up on our dinner tables. For an idea of the extent of the disaster, just consider that every minute an amount of plastic equivalent to 33,000 small bottles is thrown into the Mediterranean.

The Seabin project: collecting the plastic in the sea

What is the Seabin for?

The Seabin project came out of a passion for the sea, and the desire to protect it from the bad management of waste produced by humans.

So Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinski created the Seabin, a “waste basket” able to collect the waste, oils, fuel and detergents that float on the surface. Each bin can collect around 500kg of detritus per year.

Among this waste are microplastics, fragments of plastic with a diameter of 2-5 mm, which are very damaging for animals. The Seabin is also effective at trapping very small microfibres, starting from a size of 0.3 mm.

These devices remove large quantities of household waste from the sea, such as plastic utensils, plastic bags, bottles and cigarette butts.

Where should the bins be positioned?

To be most effective, Seabins need to be placed in strategic places.

The most appropriate places are the zones where waste naturally accumulates due to sea currents. The device is submerged in the water, with its top part level with the surface, so that the detritus is carried directly into it.

The water pump connected to the base of each bin can treat 25,000 litres of sea water every hour. The waste is collected in the bag inside, while the water flows through the pump and back into the sea.

A Seabin works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so it can remove a lot more rubbish than a person with a net.

Although the device can’t be used in the open sea, as it needs an electrical connection, it is incredibly effective in ports, which are places that accumulate a huge amount of waste.

Winni’s wins the 2020 Bio&Consumi Awards for the Seabin

i: the Winni’s team at the launch of the new Seabin in Cervia

There are over 800 Seabins working all over the world, and they have already collected more than a tonne of waste. In Italy, LifeGate supports dozens of administrative councils committed to reducing the pollution in the sea with the installation of new Seabins.

Winni’s has contributed to this initiative in collaboration with LifeGate, and in June 2019, it participated in the installation of a Seabin in the Tourist Port of Cervia. Today, for this contribution, Winni’s has received an important recognition for the best charity initiative at the 2020 Bio&Consumi Awards.

the Winni’s team with the first bag of waste collected by the Seabin

The prize was given during Sana Restart, an international trade fair for organic and natural products, held in Bologna on the 9th October this year. For Winni’s, this is an important recognition of the company’s solid commitment to the marine environment, within the wider context of our policy of protecting and promoting nature. The project is the latest of numerous initiatives aimed at reducing plastic pollution, among which are:

The creation of single-material eco-formats for our containers, which are easier to recycle and use up to 80% less plastic than traditional bottles.
Adding a percentage of recycled plastic, collected from our offices and company premises, to our bottles.
An energy policy based on the exclusive use of renewable sources to power our factory in Cotignola.
Together, we can still do a lot more for a cleaner world, and a cleaner sea!