Pollution is one of the most pressing problems in seas and oceans, and new technologies can help understand and try to solve the situation. The Upcycling the Oceans project, promoted by the Ecoalf Foundation and Ecoembes, has launched a new initiative that incorporates advanced systems to fight against marine pollution, specifically, on the coasts of our country. The pilot program launched by Upcycling the Oceans combines technology and science to analyze the impact of floating trash in the marine protected areas of the Spanish east.
To this end, Satlink devices have been used that incorporate GPS location technology (geolocated buoys) that can be attached to the floating waste that is drifting in the vicinity of these areas, thus allowing its identification and monitoring to enable its collection. .
With the support of the Banco Santander Foundation, through its Santander for the Seas program, and the technology company Satlink, specialized in solutions for the management, knowledge and protection of the oceans, this first pilot project has begun with the participation of the ports of Delta del Ebre (Catalunya) and Torrevieja (Alicante), and will extend until June 2025.
The new program pursues a double objective: to understand the frequency with which this waste is found in the vicinity of protected marine areas, as well as the creation of a collection system before it impacts them. Thanks to this technology, when smaller vessels come across bulky waste that they cannot carry on board, they will be able to identify its location so that it can be collected by another ship and taken to the port’s containers for subsequent treatment in the sorting plants. .
“With the launch of this pilot, we continue to take steps to move towards a future without waste. We had already been doing important work removing waste from the seabed together with fishermen, but now we will also be closer to recovering the garbage that is floating near protected areas; And what is more important, we will be able to better understand the type of waste that reaches these areas and try to establish an effective collection system,” said Nieves Rey, Director of Communication and Marketing at Ecoembes.
For her part, Andrea Ruzo, director of the Ecoalf Foundation, added that “this pilot allows us, thanks to the collaboration of the ports of Torrevieja and Delta del Ebre, to understand how marine litter interacts with the marine environment through technology and obtain data that helps preserve nearby marine protected areas. The ultimate goal is to be able to create local collaborative networks that help identify and prevent waste from impacting protected marine environments.”
Upcycling the Oceans aims to collaborate in cleaning the oceans and promote circularity by giving a second life to waste recovered from the sea through recycling. Since 2015, the project has removed more than 1,000 tons of garbage from the seabed thanks to the voluntary participation of more than 2,600 trawl and other gear fishermen in 45 Spanish ports.
Developed by the Spanish technology company Satlink, these buoys include GPS technology and can be located through software that sends their position in real time. In addition, they calculate and provide data on their speed and direction if they are adrift, which will help understand how garbage interacts with the environment and the possibility of preventing it from reaching protected marine areas. Equipped with solar panels, they have an almost unlimited lifespan and are connected through a satellite communications system to ensure transmission from anywhere in the world.
“At Satlink, we firmly believe that technology is a fundamental tool for the protection and conservation of the marine environment. All our developments and initiatives are focused on ensuring better management of the oceans and their resources, and this collaboration with the Upcycling the Oceans project is one more step in this direction. The buoys will not only allow marine litter to be monitored to guarantee its collection, but also provide greater knowledge about how it interacts with the environment,” highlighted Kathryn Gavira, director of Science and Sustainability at Satlink.
The launch of this pilot program would not have been possible without the help of the Banco Santander Foundation and its Santander for the Seas program, another example of the importance of creating strategic alliances that involve all social agents to work for the preservation of the environment.
