Beach-cleaning robot mechanically sifts sand to remove microplastics without disrupting ecosystems

Poralu Marine has introduced the BeBot, a new piece of clean ocean technology made for the sole purpose of cleaning and restoring coastlines by mechanically sifting sand to remove plastic waste and other debris.

4ocean will be testing the BeBot on beaches near South Florida, with plans to also deploy an additional BeBot in Hawai'i to support existing cleanup initiatives on the island of Oahu.

Coastal plastic pollution

Walk any beach or coastline around the world and you're bound to encounter some form of plastic pollution. Plastic waste isn't just an eyesore that impacts tourism and local economies; it's also an environmental hazard that can harm wildlife and degrade crucial coastal ecosystems.

To help keep beaches clean, many coastal properties utilize heavy-duty equipment like tractors to rake the sand or manual sifters that are labour intensive, less efficient, trigger beach erosion, and automatically crush fauna and flora present in the sand. These devices also leave a lot of plastic waste behind because it's either too small or too deep in the sand to capture.

Sand quality is degraded and all small trash that isn't recovered will eventually find its way into the ocean or into the stomachs of seabirds, sea turtles, and other animals who rely on the coastal ecosystem to thrive.