Trelleborg fenders help clean up oceans

The fenders will be part of one of the solutions tested, comprising giant floating buoys that are connected to create a wind area. This functions as a sail, which pulls The Ocean Cleanup’s advanced passive drifting boom system, System 001/B, forward to help retain plastic for longer periods of time. The fenders are intended to increase wind current to allow the system to retain plastic for longer periods of time.

The Ocean Cleanup’s System 001/B consists of a 150m long floater that sits at the surface of the water and a tapered 3m deep skirt attached below. The floater provides buoyancy to the system and prevents plastic from flowing over it, while the skirt stops debris from escaping underneath. As the system moves through the water, the plastic collects within the boundaries of the U-shaped system.

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Richard Hepworth, president at Trelleborg’s marine and infrastructure operation, said the company was “delighted to have the opportunity to support The Ocean Cleanup and its goal of turning the tide on marine pollution by removing plastic from our oceans”.

Last month, System 001/B headed to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, located between Hawaii and California.

The concentrated plastic will be brought to shore for recycling and made into durable products. Revenue gained will help fund the clean-up expansion to the remaining four ocean gyres, which are large systems of rotating currents.

By Rebecca Jeffrey