Design Summary and Analysis Draft 1

According to the article “Seabin Using Plastic to Fight Plastics” (2019), The Seabin Project highlights the consequences of microplastics (2-5mm) in the ecosystem. It also discusses the benefits of the Seabins as a holistic solution to the pollutants in the sea. The article mentions that many sea-creatures ingest microplastics as it resembles their food source with its size and appearance. Microplastics also gather organic wastes at an accelerated rate compared to other inorganic particles which have acute detrimental effects on the marine environment. As a countermeasure, Seabins function by ingesting water within its vicinity and traps any detritus through its filtration system. By integrating sensors into the Seabin, it can double up as a monitoring device, allowing the Seabin Project to conduct comprehensive studies on its effectiveness and potential improvements. Because of the accessibility, simplicity and dynamic functions of the Seabin, it is a favorable method of marine pollution countermeasures used by governments all around the world. Despite some of its limitations, Seabins still stands out in its own ways in efforts to reduce water pollution, mainly due to its sustainability in its production and operations which makes it easy to maintain, as well as its efficiency in fulfilling its purpose.

Despite its limitations, Seabins still stands out from other sea cleaning products for its ability to catch microplastics as small as 2 millimetres in size. Due to the design of the Seabins, they are unable to collect mass amounts of debris at each point of time. The Seabin Overview Book (2019) states that the catch bag can hold up to a maximum mass of 20 kilograms of waste at each point of time. Despite the efforts of redesigning and enlarging its capacity, it would still require many Seabins to collect an equivalent amount of waste as compared to other products, such as the Interceptor from The Ocean Cleanup project. However, also according to the Seabin Overview Book (2019), Seabins can capture microplastics of 2 millimetres or larger in size with the purpose of reducing “the risk to animals by being mistaken for food”. Therefore, they have made up for their disadvantage of being unable to capture waste in bulk.

An advantage that Seabins possess is its sustainability. Although the Seabins can function by themselves, there is still a need of minimal manpower needed to maintain Seabins’ operations. To maintain a Seabin, it has been advised that they should be checked twice a day and emptied as needed. There is also a need for Seabins to be cleaned and checked monthly to keep it operational and if any of the catch bags was found to be damaged, it can be replaced instantly just like normal trash bins on land. After the damaged catch bags are being replaced, they can be recycled into a new catch bags which can then in turn replace other damaged catch bags, making it an ecosystem. According to The Seabin Project Website (2020), Seabins are mostly made from recycled ocean wastes and on top of that, the running cost of a Seabin is only up to three dollars a day. Therefore, making it a sustainable solution to marine pollution.

Other than being a sustainable solution to marine pollution, the Seabin has also been designed to be able to operate efficiently. The Seabins operate round the clock through a pump, making it one of the more efficient sea cleaning products in the market by collecting surface debris despite the almost any condition at any time of the day or night. With its well-thought design, they can also be easily deployed or repositioned to locations where there are is a higher concentration of marine pollution. With this flexibility, it could make Seabin one of the more efficient sea cleaning products.

In conclusion, these advantages make Seabin an optimal solution to marine pollution as it is not only able to filter smaller debris compared to other sea cleaning solutions, they are also able to do it sustainably and efficiently.

References

Seabin Project (2019). Seabin using plastic to fight plastics. Retrieved on February 09, 2020 from https://seabinproject.com/seabin-using-plastic-to-fight-plastics/

ABC News July 28, 2016. Surfers set to turn Seabin dream into sales reality. Retrieved on February 02, 2020 from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-28/seabin-project-nears-reality-for-wa-surfers-with-2017-sales-plan/7665270

Seabin Overview Book (n.d.). Retrieved on February 09, 2020 from https://seabinproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/seabin_overview_book.pdf

Kickstarter (n.d.). Seabin Project. Cleaning our oceans one marina at a time. Retrieved on February 09, 2020 from https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1902540740/seabin-project-cleaning-our-oceans-one-marina-at-a