Cost to clean up: Traditional Method vs Seabin

What is the cost to cleaning up the ocean? It is difficult to answer.There are million tons of plastic is floating around the world’s blue ocean sea, the researcher put a price tag which are $13 billion a year on the environment damage. There are more than 20 million tons of plastic flow into the ocean every year, well 80 per cent of the garbage is on the shore and sea (Kirby, 2016). 

In North Pacific Ocean, they spend $122 million and $489 million in a year ($5,000-20,000 per day) Assume that a boat with an 18 ft. (5.5 m) beam and surveyed the area within 100 m off of each side of the ship. If the ship travelled at 11 knots (20 km/hour), and surveyed during daylight hours (approximately 10 hours a day), it would take 67 ships one year to cover that area! Well this is just an expanse for boat time only, it hasn’t included the labour cost and equipment (Response.restoration.noaa.gov, 2016).

Furthermore, the founder of Ocean Recovery Alliance said that they run the “Plastic Disclosure Project” in California, Washington and Oregon, the cost is approximately $13 billion, besides, the cost of removing the waste is around $500 million. (Kirby, 2016)

Therefore, the cost of cleaning up the ocean are tremendously high.

                                                      source:abovethelaw.com

However, if we use Seabin to clean up the ocean it works efficiency, because Seabin is an electronic vacuum garbage bin it can run 24/7 and simple to empty. The cost for the bin is just $3,825 (£2,500) each. The inventors are looking to raise $230,000 (£155,000) on Indiegogo to make their idea a reality (Griffiths, 2016).

Griffiths, S. (2016). The ocean VACUUM that sucks rubbish and oil from waterways: £2,500 'Seabins' trap floating debris found along coastlines. Mail Online. [online] Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3370235/The-ocean-VACUUM-sucks-rubbish-oil-waterways-2-500-Seabins-trap-floating-debris-coastlines.html [Accessed 2 Nov. 2016].

Kirby, D. (2016). Ocean Plastic Pollution Costs $13 Billion a Year, and Your Face Scrub Is Part of the Problem. [online] TakePart. Available at: http://www.takepart.com/article/2014/06/30/ocean-plastic-pollution-costs-13-billion-year-and-your-face-scrub-part-problem [Accessed 2 Nov. 2016]. 

Response.restoration.noaa.gov. (2016). How Much Would it Cost to Clean up the Pacific Garbage Patches? | response.restoration.noaa.gov. [online] Available at: http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/about/media/how-much-would-it-cost-clean-pacific-garbage-patches.html [Accessed 2 Nov. 2016]. 

Written By: Tan Pei Juen (Hisako)