Project: Sea Bin

In our second year of a three-year sponsorship with Seabin™, we are proud to share the following achievements as of August 2024:

• Water Filtered: 391 million litres, equivalent to 156.22 swimming pools.
• Marine Litter Captured: 1.87 tonnes
• Estimated Plastic Items Captured: 958,618
• Estimated Microplastics Captured: 591,313

Seabins data shows that:

61.68% of the captured marine litter consists of microplastics, exceeding the 2023 city-wide average of 53%.

Of the microplastics collected in the SEA LIFE Seabin:

• 73% were nurdles.
• 4% were micro hard plastics.
• 3% were micro soft plastics.
• 6% were micro foam.
• 14% were microfibers.

These figures highlight the significant impact of our efforts and underscore the ongoing need for action to address plastic pollution in our waterways.

In 2024, the Seabin at Sydney SEA LIFE has recorded over 600 cigarette butts, the highest count among all Seabins situated in Sydney Harbour. This location also leads in collecting plastic bags, straws, and wrappers, underscoring the ongoing need for vigilance and action against plastic pollution.

A Seabin is a cross between a garbage bin and a pool skimmer. A Seabin works by skimming the surface and sucking in water to remove plastics, microplastics, fuel oil and other harmful contaminants.   

A Seabin can filter up to 1.3 million litres of water per day to capture marine litter. A catch net is housed within the Seabin unit and can hold up to 20kg of matter. The average catch over a typical 24-hour cycle is approximately 4kg.   

Seabins operate 24/7 – 365 days per year. SST (Seabin™ Smart Technology) use a submersible pump that pulls water through the unit at a rate of 55,000L/hour (1,300,000L/day) which creates surface tension to the top 20mm of the water column around the unit's lid, drawing water toward the unit from up to 6 metres away. Any marine litter as well as surface pollutants including microplastics, plastic fibres, oils and fuels caught in this vortex is filtered by a catch net and oil absorbent pad within the unit.

From January 2023 to December 2023, 33 Seabin units worked tirelessly to filter 9.25 billion litres of water and remove over 22.5 tonnes of marine litter in Sydney Harbour. The Seabins captured approximately 4,772,648 plastic items, including 2,601,353 microplastics (nurdles, micro soft and hard plastics, microfibers, and foam).

Through Nature Certificates:

We all have a role to play in combating plastic pollution. By purchasing a Nature Certificate, you can directly support Seabins mission to clean Sydney Harbour. For just $142.00 per annum, you can help filter 482,460 litres of water and remove 258 plastic items, including 139 microplastics, from the harbour. Discover more about our subscription options here: https://seabin.io/home).

Keep up to date with the Seabin journey by following @seabin_project on Instagram!