The city’s Baltic Sea Challenge and its construction service company Stara are working together this summer with Clewat Oy on the tryout of a new trash collecting boat, the Cleansweep-vessel. Taking place this summer the 23.6-3.7 and 21.7-31.7, these tests are meant to find out the vessel’s usability in tackling the marine plastic problem.
The amount of trash in the sea is continuously growing. Last year, Stara picked up with their boat Lippo approximately 80 m3 of litter from the shores of Helsinki. Eating, drinking and smoking activities are the main sources of the waste people are producing. Some of this waste ends up in the sea as it is carried by the runoff waters, the rivers and the wind. Over 70% of the marine debris are actually made of plastic, which decays very slowly and is harmful to human and to the wildlife.
Stara is responsible for the cleaning of the waters and for the archipelago’s waste management in Helsinki. During this summer, Stara will be testing the efficiency and the functionality of the Cleansweep-vessel and will compare it to their own Lippo-vessel for about a month. The goal is to develop the waste recovery, so that even the tiniest piece of plastic can be collected.
With the “Nopeat Kokeilut” (Speedy Experiments), we get new innovations to fight against the trashing of the seas
The Baltic Sea Challenge coordinates the voluntary protection initiatives of the Baltic sea and they launched this spring the Speedy Experiments. These tryouts are meant to find innovative solutions for the city’s marine debris problem. Clewat Oy was chosen to these tryouts to find out the quantity of collectable waste by the Cleansweep-vessel and its composition, especially in the sea areas where cleaning up is difficult. During this summer, the Cleansweep-vessel will be maneuvering at least in Kalasatama, Vanhankapunginlahti and Töölönlahti. Apart from Clewat Oy, Bloft Design Lab., Green House Effect Oy and Biosatama Oy were also chosen for the Speedy Experiments.
The Baltic Sea Challenge is a Baltic Sea protection program coordinated by the cities of Helsinki and Turku. It encompasses the joint protection program as well as the Baltic Sea Challenge Companion network. It is a network of over 300 organizations and it open to all organizations interested in helping the Baltic Sea.