Land Rover BAR partners with Seabin to clean the oceans + Video

by Land Rover BAR on 23 Feb 2016 Recent research shows that between 5m and 12m tonnes of plastic find their way into the ocean every year. This is adding rapidly to the five trillion pieces - weighing around 270,000 tonnes - that are calculated to already be polluting the world's seas and oceans. Some estimates show that by 2050 the weight of plastic is likely to outweigh that of fish.

To help tackle the immediate problem of harmful waste in our water, Land Rover BAR have entered into a new partnership with Seabin Pty, an innovative company looking to find solutions for this global issue. The Seabin is a new technology for control and management of the pollution and marine debris that accumulates in marina waters. The very first production Seabin will be installed at Land Rover BAR's home in Portsmouth.

The Seabin is an automated rubbish collection device. It is located in the water of marinas and collects all the floating rubbish, debris, oil, detergent and fuel around it. It works by creating a constant flow of water into the Seabin by use of a shore based water pump. The pump sucks water and rubbish into the Seabin and catches the debris in a bag. The seawater then passes through the catch bag, out the bottom of the Seabin and up into the pump on the dock, returning to the marina after passing through an oil/ water separator.

The Seabin will be located next to protected cages of adult oysters recently installed on pontoons at the team base. This is part of a scientific study with a number of parties to increase the oyster population and try to re-build this fragile eco system in the Solent. Oysters are struggling to reproduce, and plastics have been identified as one cause of the problem. Plastic breaks down into microparticles and resembles plankton. The oysters mistake this for food, digesting the plastic which interferes with digestion, reproduction, and the ability of their offspring to survive.

Land Rover BAR are committed not just in their aim of winning the America's Cup for Britain, but doing so with the least impact on our natural environment. Working with our exclusive Sustainability Partner 11th Hour Racing, the team aim to increase understanding of the oceans, and find solutions to the challenges that are impacting our marine resources.

They were keen to support Seabin as Team Principal and skipper Ben Ainslie explained; 'We are in a really unique position to raise awareness and accelerate the adoption of solutions to combat our reliance on unsustainable resources. We are committed to reducing our own environmental footprint and working with our partners to identify new innovative solutions to deliver further positive change, and to communicate this widely. We look forward to seeing the positive effects of the Seabin once installed in Portsmouth this summer.'

Seabin Pty Ltd was founded by Australians Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinski. Andrew Turton is an Australian boat builder, sailor and surfer who conceived the Seabin concept after seeing the amount of pollution that gathers in marinas. Pete Ceglinski is an Australian industrial designer and surfer. Commencing his industrial design career in injection-moulded plastic products, in 2004 Pete crossed over to the yachting industry, catalyzing the collaboration with Andrew on the Seabin venture.

Pete Ceglinski said; 'The Seabin project aims to produce the Seabins in the most responsible and sustainable way we can, to provide the following three, key elements to solving the ocean plastics problem; education, prevention and solutions.'