Mørenot in the process of developing system to tackle ocean plastic

Tackling what it calls "one of the most pressing environmental problems of our age," Mørenot is currently involved in a project to develop a 2.5km-long ocean clean-up system to clear the ocean of marine plastic.

Working cooperatively with Dutch non-profit organisation The Ocean Cleanup, they developed a prototype in 2021 that proved to be highly successful and has collected large amounts of plastic in the Pacific Ocean. The Ocean Cleanup develops and scales technologies to clear the world's oceans of plastic. A new, improved version is under development in a project titled 'System 03' for which Mørenot was the chosen supplier.

Following on from the testing of System 002 in harvesting plastic, it has highlighted key areas where System 03 can improve related to overtopping – referring to when plastic rides waves and evades capture – as well as challenging conditions at sea, requiring consideration of timing extractions and choosing where to deploy the system.

According to CEO of Mørenot, Arne Birkeland, the company can lend their expertise in the aquaculture industry to the project.

"With more than a century's experience from the fisheries and aquaculture industry, it's great that we can now use our technology and know-how to help The Ocean Cleanup develop System 03, which is three times as big the previous system," he explains. "We're really enthusiastic about the project and are proud to be a part of it."

A size comparison of System 03 with System 002.

System 03 is three times the size of System 002 and has been specially designed and tailored for the purpose of cleaning up plastic. It measures four metres deep and is designed as a funnel with an opening at the bottom to ensure fish and other marine life aren't trapped when trawling for plastic.

Two offshore vessels will be pulling the net between them. The net will clean up an area the size of a football field every 15 seconds, with potential to be cleaning the equivalent of 6000 football fields a day.

In addition to being three times the size of System 002, it is also capable of capturing much larger quantities of plastic at a lower cost per kilogram on a year-round basis. Costs for The Ocean Cleanup are related to support vessels, so by expanding the size of the system to remove more plastic per vessel and employing a rotating third vessel allows for the company to drive down anticipated cost per kilogram of plastic removed.

"Around one to two million tonnes of plastic end up in the ocean each year, posing an immense threat to all marine life," adds Mr Birkeland. "As part of an industry that depends on the ocean, this project is extremely important to us, and we will always continue to challenge ourselves to do even more to protect the oceans as an important food source for future generations."

The company aims for System 03 to be in operation in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch near the end of summer this year. You can keep up with developments of the project, HERE.

For more information on Mørenot visit their website, HERE.

For more information on The Ocean Cleanup visit their website, HERE.

Image credit: The Ocean Cleanup