Periodic Reporting for period 2 - MAELSTROM (Smart technology for MArinE Litter SusTainable RemOval and Management)
Reporting period: 2022-07-01 to 2023-12-31
MAELSTROM is a project funded under the Topic CE-FNR-09-2020 Pilot action for the removal of marine plastics and litter. MAELSTROM strives to provide answers and diversified solutions to the complex question to the removal and sustainable treatment of marine litter legacy. MAELSTROM contemplates the integration of complementary technologies for marine litter removal in different European coastal ecosystems, compounded with full-fledged circular economy and societal oriented solutions. MAELSTROM is formally supported by a set of key stakeholders and direct beneficiaries committed to provide sustainability and full support to its core actions. The consortium is a tight knit group of 14 partners made of research centres and foundations of excellence in marine life and biology, AI and robotics, a multinational and a national recycling company with certified industrial plants, a market consultancy company, a national research institute of excellence on renewables, a small marine engineering company and a plastic-focussed NGO. These high expertise partners are all committed as a unified and solid team to pave the way for a sustainable large scale cleaning of the coastal areas.
During the first three years of the Project, the Consortium developed and implemented two technologies to remove the marine litter from the environment: a Bubble Barrier for the estuary of the Ave River in the Porto Region in Portugal, co-powered with solar system, for the litter floating and suspended in the upper part of the water column and the MAELSTROM Seabed robotic cleaning platform for Lower Water Column litter removal technology that was successfully tested in the Venice coastal area both in the Venice Lagoon and the open sea. The Bubble Barrier in the Ave River was officially inaugurated together with Vila do Conde Municipality at the end of November 2023 and is now working to prevent the litter to reach the ocean. The MAELSTROM Seabed Cleaning platform allows selective removal of identified litter as well as efficiency of the removal with a cable-based underwater robot installed and operated from a floating barge and provided with selective cleaning tools. The MAELSTROM Seabed Cleaning platform was realized and assembled on a floating barge. The platform operations were demonstrated in a public event in June 2023 co-organized with the Venice Municipality in Venice, Italy. The underwater cable robot was patented by TECNALIA on 26ht May 2022 - EP22382506.8 - “Underwater cable robot”. The MAELSTROM Seabed Cleaning platform carried out two cleaning campaigns in 2022 and 2023 collecting a total of 2240 kg of marine litter.
MAELSTROM dedicates efforts and resources to define a suitable process to integrate the different typologies of collected ML into the circular economy scheme. From the moment of its collection until its final integration into recycled products, the ML can be tracked through the MAELSTROM Traceability App and portal that was published in October 2021 and that provides a “MarineLitterOrigin” certificate. With the material collected during the clean-up activities and the litter removal operations of the Seabed Cleaning platform, an example of circular economy was realized, transforming shredded fishing nets, buoys and ropes into new products, such as panels and laminates, that were marketized. The ML used in these panels has been tracked using the MAELSTROM App from the collection, through the transport, recycling process and new product creation, so this product will have “Maelstrom-guaranteed ML” tag. At the same time, some material collected during the cleaning activities in Venice was used for the low temperature pyrolysis process to produce marine gasoil that was used to co-power the MAELSTROM Seabed Cleaning Platform. Another key contribution to the circular economy strategy is the improvement of sorting of the collected ML. For this, an AI-driven robotic sorting system has been designed and manufactured and its testing and training is ongoing.
A main activity of MAELSTROM is dedicated to evaluating effectiveness and environmental sustainability of the technologies through dedicated monitoring campaigns before and after the cleaning operations. After a first assessment of the sources of marine litter with an extended review work, the Consortium contributed to determine the distribution and fate of ML and microplastics in the demo sites areas through numerical modelling. Specific background information was collected to understand how the ML issue is considered in maritime plans, identifying gaps and opportunities for the reinforcement of provisions on ML pollution reduction in the next round of MSP plans, thus contributing to its sustainable management. The scientific results and experiences of the Project were shared in international conferences contributing to the increase of scientific knowledge, data sharing and integration. MAELSTROM documented the full research cycle of the environmental assessment thought the implementation of 7 Research Objects
At the same time a life cycle assessment (LCA) based on the international ISO standards 14040 and 14044 is ongoing to evaluate the environmental impacts of the technologies.
MAELSTROM organized several clean ups and monitoring campaigns in Venice, Vila do Conde and San Sebastian, contributing to raising citizen awareness and collecting over 7 Tons of ML.
MAELSTROM dedicates efforts and resources to define a suitable process to integrate the different typologies of collected ML into the circular economy scheme. From the moment of its collection until its final integration into recycled products, the ML can be tracked through the MAELSTROM Traceability App and portal that was published in October 2021 and that provides a “MarineLitterOrigin” certificate. With the material collected during the clean-up activities and the litter removal operations of the Seabed Cleaning platform, an example of circular economy was realized, transforming shredded fishing nets, buoys and ropes into new products, such as panels and laminates, that were marketized. The ML used in these panels has been tracked using the MAELSTROM App from the collection, through the transport, recycling process and new product creation, so this product will have “Maelstrom-guaranteed ML” tag. At the same time, some material collected during the cleaning activities in Venice was used for the low temperature pyrolysis process to produce marine gasoil that was used to co-power the MAELSTROM Seabed Cleaning Platform. Another key contribution to the circular economy strategy is the improvement of sorting of the collected ML. For this, an AI-driven robotic sorting system has been designed and manufactured and its testing and training is ongoing.
A main activity of MAELSTROM is dedicated to evaluating effectiveness and environmental sustainability of the technologies through dedicated monitoring campaigns before and after the cleaning operations. After a first assessment of the sources of marine litter with an extended review work, the Consortium contributed to determine the distribution and fate of ML and microplastics in the demo sites areas through numerical modelling. Specific background information was collected to understand how the ML issue is considered in maritime plans, identifying gaps and opportunities for the reinforcement of provisions on ML pollution reduction in the next round of MSP plans, thus contributing to its sustainable management. The scientific results and experiences of the Project were shared in international conferences contributing to the increase of scientific knowledge, data sharing and integration. MAELSTROM documented the full research cycle of the environmental assessment thought the implementation of 7 Research Objects
At the same time a life cycle assessment (LCA) based on the international ISO standards 14040 and 14044 is ongoing to evaluate the environmental impacts of the technologies.
MAELSTROM organized several clean ups and monitoring campaigns in Venice, Vila do Conde and San Sebastian, contributing to raising citizen awareness and collecting over 7 Tons of ML.
The ambition of the MAELSTROM Project is to develop environmentally sustainable Seabed and Surface removal, sorting and recycling technologies. The MAELSTROM project bring progress and advances beyond the state-of-the-art through:
- The Seabed Cleaning Platform that can selectively remove ML in coastal areas and shallow waters. The high selectivity of the technology minimizes the environmental impact of the cleaning activities while automated and robotized processes ensure its efficiency.
- The Bubble Barrier system that represents the new state-of-the-art technology for surface litter interception in estuaries, whereas the Seabed Cleaning Platform can remove the floating and heavy plastics in the lower water column and shallow water seabed up to - 15 m. These technologies softly interfere with the fauna and the navigation during the cleaning operations, ensuring the maximal care for sea environment protection.
- The AI-driven sorting robot developed to automatically separate ML to ensure that the waste could be clearly identified, surveyed, tracked and prepared for recycling and that the recovery of recyclable materials is maximized.
-The three MAELSTROM recycling processes, i.e. the thermoplastics ML recycling in composites, recycling of macro litter into laminates by thermal press moulding and chemical recycling, create new materials that are characterized for marketization. This represents the first real step in direction of a ZERO WASTE policy on ML.
MAELSTROM developed and implemented six technologies that have reached TRL7.
MAELSTROM contributed to increase scientific knowledge, develop research capacity and transfer marine technology and to improve professional skills and competences, though 10 MSc Thesis and 2PhD programs.
- The Seabed Cleaning Platform that can selectively remove ML in coastal areas and shallow waters. The high selectivity of the technology minimizes the environmental impact of the cleaning activities while automated and robotized processes ensure its efficiency.
- The Bubble Barrier system that represents the new state-of-the-art technology for surface litter interception in estuaries, whereas the Seabed Cleaning Platform can remove the floating and heavy plastics in the lower water column and shallow water seabed up to - 15 m. These technologies softly interfere with the fauna and the navigation during the cleaning operations, ensuring the maximal care for sea environment protection.
- The AI-driven sorting robot developed to automatically separate ML to ensure that the waste could be clearly identified, surveyed, tracked and prepared for recycling and that the recovery of recyclable materials is maximized.
-The three MAELSTROM recycling processes, i.e. the thermoplastics ML recycling in composites, recycling of macro litter into laminates by thermal press moulding and chemical recycling, create new materials that are characterized for marketization. This represents the first real step in direction of a ZERO WASTE policy on ML.
MAELSTROM developed and implemented six technologies that have reached TRL7.
MAELSTROM contributed to increase scientific knowledge, develop research capacity and transfer marine technology and to improve professional skills and competences, though 10 MSc Thesis and 2PhD programs.