The clean, green polypropylene machine
The brainchild of Mold S.r.l. CEO Vanni Covolo, River Cleaning is a unique way of using plastic parts to remove plastic pollution.
River Cleaning is an environmental project spearheaded by Italy-based Mold S.r.l CEO Vanni Covolo. Specialising in injection moulded plastic automotive solutions, Mold S.r.l, which is headquartered in Cassola, Vicenza, utilised its manufacturing expertise to create a unique buoy that is positioned diagonally across a waterway in order to intercept plastic waste and transport it autonomously to a receptacle located on the riverbank.
The river’s current causes the devices to spin so that intercepted debris is passed from one to the next until it reaches the deposit point.
The buoys are connected to a riverbed in such a way that they cause no hindrance to passing vessels. They simply allow a small boat to push the device aside. Once the vessel has passed, the device returns to its original position. To ensure the navigability of larger vessels, sensors are located upstream that instruct the tethers to retract on either riverbank, creating a gap. Again, once the vessel has passed, the tether unfurls, and the devices return to their original positions. Furthermore, the buoys and their tethers have no adverse effects on a riverine ecosystem and have little to no maintenance requirements. They are powered by the natural current and therefore require no energy to function.
“The project has enormous potential,” Covolo said, “and what we have been able to demonstrate so far responds exactly to the urgent needs of our environment.”
These tests were carried out on the Brenta River in Northern Italy, but the project needs industry partners in order to facilitate the worldwide rollout of the technology.
Speaking exclusively to EPPM, Covolo remarked: “My experience in manufacturing for the automotive sector was fundamental in the River Cleaning project. In terms of design, intended as functionality and not as an aesthetic aspect, the automotive influence led me to design the system as a chain of gears working in unison to transport the waste from one side of the river to the other.
“My final aim was to design a system that could be reproduced in series, with high technical and mechanical characteristics, and that could be installed easily and economically. I designed the system so that it could overcome the real problems associated with routine maintenance. River Cleaning is a concrete solution to the problem of plastic pollution, which today is the real war to be fought.”
With a surface area made with injection moulded and recycled polypropylene, and a low-density recyclable foam on the inside, the floating device is a prime of example of using innovative solutions to fight fire with fire – or rather, plastic with plastic.