Plastic catcher to reduce litter in Schiedam harbor

Public works department Rijkswaterstaat and company Allseas together developed a plastic catcher meant to catch and collect floating waste as well as waste up to 1 meter underwater. The "Catchy" was installed in Vijfsluizerhaven in Schiedam, where Rijkswaterstaat believes it can catch up to 200 kilos of waste per month.

"Due to the effects of currents and strong wind from the southwest, a lot of litter drifts to the Vijfsluizerhaven and the nature reserve behind it," Wijnand Kooring of Rijkswaterstaat said. "Because Catchy collects this litter, it must prevent that it flows into the nature reserve and the North Sea where it disintegrates into microplastics."

The Catchy works entirely on wind and current, and will work regardless of the weather conditions, according to Rijkswaterstaat. It has 2 floating arms, one of 12 meters and one of over 200 meters, with cloths hanging down 1 meter from them to catch waste and lead it to the collection system. "In Vijfsluizerhaven this is deep enough to collect the largest waste flows. This also gives enough space for fish to easily swim underneath the cloths," Jeroen Hagelstein of Allseas said.

The Catchy will be installed in Vijfsluizerhaven as an experiment until June 2021, and will be emptied each month. After this, its efficiency will be assessed.

Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen of Infrastructure called the Catchy a "good example of collaboration between industry and government to boost the development of important innovations". "We want to get rid of the litter in our waters and this innovative approach with Catchy looks very promising," she said.