The WasteShark is a compact, agile, all-electric aquadrone that prevents plastics, microplastics, oils and other debris from floating on the water’s surface. Nothing escapes the effectiveness of the “WasteShark”, a compact, agile and fully electric aquadrone manufactured by Dutch startup RanMarine Technology.
This autonomous vehicle can collect up to 350 kilos of rubbish and has an autonomy of eight hours. Once this limit is reached, the device must return to base to deposit the rubbish and recharge the batteries.
The aquadrone is designed to be used in ports, docks, canals and estuaries. The idea is to intercept waste before it reaches the oceans. Being electric, when sailing on water, it does not generate pollutant emissions, produces no noise or light pollution and poses no threat to wildlife. The aquadrone also has the ability to obtain important data about the marine environment where it operates.
The next step is to combine the aquatic technology with the aerial drone, which will help detect the waste and send the coordinates to the aquadrone. Even small amounts of oil or petrol will be able to be identified.
More than 10 million tonnes of plastic waste enters the oceans each year, but plastic floating on the sea surface accounts for only one per cent. The rest is thought to be present in the deep ocean, but so far it is not known where the debris has ended up.
Microplastics are small pieces of fibres and plastic less than 5mm long. These microplastics come from fibres from textiles and clothing that are small enough to pass through filter systems in domestic wastewater treatment plants, as well as fishing nets and other sources such as transport and oil and gas industries.
