Kingspan Group has partnered with Australian clean tech start-up Seabin on a mission to clean up the world's waterways. This partnership is built on the alignment of their individual missions for cleaner oceans and supported by a pioneering technology that collects microplastics and other ocean debris from the water.
The Seabin unit sucks in water and passes it through a catch bag. The water is then pumped back into the marina while the marine debris trapped inside the bag is sent to a waste management facility for recycling.
A recent Sydney city pilot by Seabin collected over 16 tonnes of marine debris and filtered more than 3.2 billion litres of water for microplastics, plastic, fibres, oil and other contaminants.
With this partnership, Sydney Harbour is set to become a lot cleaner with the Kingspan-sponsored Seabin unit at Jones Bay Marina expected to collect almost 1.3 tonnes of marine debris from the water each year. Jones Bay Wharf is classified by Seabin as a 'High Volume Marine Litter Accumulation Point'.
Kingspan has a substantial presence in Australia, providing energy efficiency solutions for buildings, as well as rainwater harvesting, wastewater treatment, and energy storage. The Sydney Harbour clean-up is being executed as part of their 10-year Planet Passionate sustainability programme, which includes a commitment to support five ocean clean-up projects around the world by 2025.
Seabin’s 100 Smarter Cities Program – Sydney is the second ocean clean-up project to receive support as part of Kingspan’s Planet Passionate commitment. The company began a three-year partnership in 2019 with the ECOALF Foundation to remove up to 150 tonnes of waste from the Mediterranean each year through the foundation’s network of fishermen. A significant part of the recovered plastic waste is used in Kingspan’s production.
Seabin is now replicating their model around the world with the aim to cover 100 cities by 2050. Commercial partnerships such as the one with Kingspan will help Seabin achieve their aims by providing some of the much-needed funding for environmental technicians to service and maintain the units, collect data, engage with local communities and facilitate educational events. Kingspan plans to support a second Seabin unit in Los Angeles in 2022.
“Having a multinational like Kingspan come onboard and support our mission of cleaner oceans is nothing short of inspiring and an example for others to follow. The team and myself look forward to working with Kingspan here in Sydney, and over in LA as we scale our operations to increase our positive impact across the globe,” Seabin CEO and co-founder Pete Ceglinski said.
Kingspan Group head of sustainability Bianca Wong said, “We’re delighted to partner with Seabin as part of our Planet Passionate sustainability programme. Using resources responsibly and protecting the natural environment are the core focus areas of the programme and we're excited to support Seabin in improving water quality and removing pollutants from harbours around the world.”
