This month, a MegaShark is sailing in the Noorderkanaal in Rotterdam-Noord. In other words: an electric garbage-collecting boat. This is a trial by the municipality. Unbelievable, the amount of trash we find in it.

The MegaShark is basically a kind of vacuum cleaner, but for the water. The catamaran-like boat can clean the top approximately 25 centimeters of the water surface from all debris. The belly of the MegaShark can hold about 200 kilos of waste.

4-week trial

And it collects waste from the water by itself, explains Koen van Roon from the municipality. Also waste that is not visible. Koen is involved in the municipal trial with this MegaShark. The electric boat will sail around the Noorderkanaal and some surrounding waters for about 4 weeks.

During this period, the municipality will evaluate if and how the MegaShark can be deployed throughout Rotterdam. We are especially curious about how much waste it really collects and how fast it does so. And of course, we also look at how easy it is to operate.

Collection systems 

Of course, the municipality already has garbage-collecting boats sailing around. Three in total. Several colleagues sail along in them, using a scoop net to fish waste out of the waters. Real manual work. That remains necessary, says Koen. Trash in hard-to-reach places, the MegaShark cannot reach either. A scoop net or trash grabber remains the only option for that, I expect.  

The municipality is also testing various waste collection systems on the water in several places in the city. In other words: smart ways to clean up wind-blown litter in the water. This happens, for example, in the Coolhaven and the Keilehaven. Koen: The amount of trash we find is unbelievable. Especially with large waste – think plastic bottles – it is very important to remove it quickly from the water. The faster it is removed, the fewer microplastics end up in nature.

From the land

Koen and his colleagues hope the MegaShark will bring them one step closer to the goal: waste-free waters in Rotterdam. This goal actually starts on land; less litter on the streets naturally means less waste in the water.  

To achieve this, the municipality wants to hire more people for cleaning in the coming years. And also respond faster to MeldR reports. This was evident from the recently presented budget. But the help of Rotterdam residents is indispensable, says Koen. Fortunately, there are really many people who help keep or clean the city. For example, the ambassadors of De Rotte Plasticvrij. We are certainly very grateful for that.

Want to know more about keeping Rotterdams waters clean? Visit rotterdam.nl/afvalvrijewateren. Link opens an external page. Here you can also read what you can do to help.

Rotterdam Neighborhood News

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