New device captures plastics and other garbage from lakes

In one day, a seabin can collect 4 kilograms of garbage a day.

Bottle caps, and plastic bags, it may not be much in volume, but the manager of the Toronto Marina Mike Dwyer says the device is doing important work.

“What we are really getting now more than we were ever able to do by hand is the little microplastics”.

Eventually, all plastics breakdown into tiny pieces oftentimes ingested by fish and birds as food.

The images of dead animals from around the world with their stomachs full of plastic waste are stark reminders of how much plastic is in our oceans and lakes.

Plastic pollution is the reason two Australian surfers invented the device. There are over 700 seabins in countries around the world but these in Toronto are said to be the first in Canada.

The device moves up and down to collect water and trap debris and even oil in the mesh bag.

There are three seabins at the Marina in Toronto. According to the company’s website, a total of nearly 115 thousand kilograms of trash have been collected by seabins around the world.