New seabin installed in Darling Harbour

Ahead of World Clean-up Day on 21st September, SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium has installed a permanent Seabin in the harbour underneath the famous floating Oceanarium.

A Seabin is a floating rubbish bin that collects garbage from the sea. It's designed to be near ports, marinas, and harbours, as it collects rubbish and debris in the local body of water. The litter is brought into the bin thanks to a pump which creates a flow of water. They are then collected in a catch bag.

Claudette Rechtorik, Head of the SEA LIFE Trust is delighted by the installation of the Seabin, commenting: “I’m thrilled to announce ahead of World Clean-Up Day and thanks to the generous support of our friends at  Sydney By Kayak, we’ve now successfully installed a Seabin here at SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium. Working 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, this Seabin is located in Darling Harbour and has the potential to prevent up to 1.4 tonnes of marine litter from entering our oceans and harming our marine life.

“Plastic packaging, cigarette butts, straws and coffee cups remain the main culprits that we’re seeing being collected. We’ve also been really surprised by the number of tennis balls and even footballs that have collected by the Seabin in just one week. While a lost ball may seem harmless, this is a stark reminder litter and waste of all shapes and sizes will likely end up in our oceans and potentially being eaten by a beautiful sea creature.

“We can all, individually, do more to reduce the amount of plastic entering in our waterway by taking simple steps such as choosing to use a reusable coffee cup, avoiding plastic bags, opting not to buy water bottles and binning our butts!” added Rechtorik.

The SEA LIFE Trust, in partnership with Sydney by Kayak, aims to install another three Seabins in Sydney over the next 12 months. To find out more or to make a donation to help, please click here.