Port Bin Tide

SpillTech’s main products are floating waste collecting, plastic bottles, cans in ports, marinas and other water environments. The new waste collector, called PortBin Tide, has been developed over the past year in cooperation with the port of Sandefjord, Oslo and with support from Innovation Norway. The PortBin works on the principle of weir-type skimmers. It creates a suction on the surface that allows it to collect waste in a 30-litre container, also in the range is the PortBin Tide XL which will collect 1000-litres, which is then emptied manually when needed. An important aspect of the development work has been to ensure that the equipment is easy to handle, and yet robust enough to withstand the environment. This is key because, even inside a port, seawater, wind and waves can provide quite harsh conditions.

HUGE PROBLEM

The waste collector is run by onshore power. Beta tests were carried out earlier this year and PortBin is now being used in several ports in Europe (Copenhagen, Oslo, Bergen, Gdansk), in the UK the PortBin is used in Ramsgate, Milford Haven, Orkney Islands. The idea is that waste collectors can be placed in “trash coves ” in or around the ports. Trash coves are areas where current, wind, and tide accumulate floating waste. Waste in the sea is a huge problem, and we also see it impacting our ports and harbours. The most important solution to this problem is to stop littering but that is not easy so we also need to develop new tools to collect the increasing amount of waste. SpillTech is looking to collaborate with Norwegian and international municipality and private sector organisations and industry partners who can explore further applications of this technology.

See PortBin in action by clicking on the video here.