Experts say that by 2050 there may be more plastic than fish in the sea. It is found in every region of the world, from the deepest ocean trenches to the most remote islands.

Over 300 million tons of plastic are produced each year and at least 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean annually; making up 80% of all marine debris found in surface waters. And the problem is continues to grow!

As recently as ten years ago, when the pollution problem was already huge, there was little global awareness and even less of a movement to stop the problem. Although you may not have read about plastic pollution or microplastics or The Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the news, others were aware of the issues and were utilizing Aquarius Systems’ equipment to scoop the debris from rivers, lakes and reservoirs.

Back in the mid-1970’s, officials in Venice, Italy, needed a way to remove the floating debris from the canals, which were openly used as a dumpster.  An Aquatic Weed Harvester was modified with collection wings and a few other upgrades. The resulting machine, that we like to call the Trash Hunter, was exported to Venice.

The Trash Hunter is the first-of-its-kind boat designed for the sole purpose of collecting and removing floating debris from surface water. This development gave birth to the state-of-the-art Marine Debris Skimmers produced today. The modern machines have been re-engineered from the original rudimentary design to feature a catamaran hull for stability, adjustable collections flares to enable operators to capture floating items and clean out tight corners, and an onboard conveyor containment system to retain, dewater and unload the debris.

Rivers are the main source of plastic contamination found in the oceans. It originates from land-based debris found in urban and stormwater runoff, littering, inadequate waste disposal and management, industrial activities and illegal dumping. Rivers, and the floating debris fed into them, flow into the ocean. The mobile Aquarius Systems’ Aquatic Trash Hunters are used on many rivers, skimming to capture and remove the floating debris and offloaded it into shore-based dumpsters.

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District has cleaned and maintained the Milwaukee river system within the inner harbor area of Lake Michigan with a river skimmer boat for over 20 years. Their current vessel, the Lynyrd Skymmr Aquatic Trash Hunter, is 50-feet long and scoops up tree trunks, branches, plastic containers, trash, road construction barrels, tires, and dead fish. In 2017, the river skimmer boat worked on Milwaukee waterways for 128 days, collecting 1,545 cubic yards of debris. That’s enough to fill over 77 commercial-size 20-yard dumpsters.

Can you visualize 1,545 cubic yards? I couldn’t either, but a little research revealed that a washing machine is a little smaller in size than a cubic yard. Milwaukee pulled 1,545 cubic yards; which is like removing 1,545 washing machines from the inner harbor area — and preventing that debris from entering Lake Michigan.

The Lower Passaic River is one of the most polluted waterways in the United States. The Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission uses a skimmer boat to sweep floatables from a ten-mile stretch of the Passaic River, garbage which would otherwise reach the Atlantic Ocean. The skimmer boat which acts like a street sweeper for the river removes floating debris such as trees, plastic bags, plastic bottles, soccer balls, etc.

The program, which started in 1998, has collected about 372 tons (744,000 pounds) of trash and debris annually. Imagine having to move 744,000 gallons of paint comparison! That is the amount of trash being pulled from the river. Forty percent of the garbage removed from the river is plastic, most of which is plastic bottles.

A global solution to the source needs to be found, whether it is a ban on single-use plastic, better recycling, or investing in proper waste management operation. And for nearly 50 years Aquarius Systems Aquatic Trash Skimmer has been part of the Pollution Solution!

Read More about the Milwaukee River Skimmer

See the Passaic Valley Trash Skimmer in Action

Learn More about Aquatic Trash Skimmers

Marine Plastic Pollution