Three Seabins installed at St. Katharine Docks in London

A floating rubbing bin called the Seabin has been installed at St. Katharine Docks to tackle water pollution and prevent rubbish to flow back into the River Thames and ultimately the oceans

After recently undergoing refurbishment, St. Katharine Docks, has installed three floating rubbish bins, the Seabins, in a bid to tackle water pollution.
The move is part of a larger commitment by the Docks to invest in greater sustainability and eco-friendly projects to reduce the amount of waste that is found in both the River Thames and the ocean, and follows its efforts to be a ‘greener marina’ over the past few years, supporting projects such as The Whale Company and #ForFishsSake.

The Seabins at St. Katharine Docks are located in the West Dock and Central Basin. They are checked on a regular basis and emptied as required, with the recyclable waste disposed of by the Marina Team. St. Katharine Docks estimates that the three Seabins could catch around 1,500kgs of rubbish per year, therefore playing an important role in preventing it from flowing back into the River Thames and more widely into the oceans. 300 tonnes of rubbish is cleared from the River Thames each year, which is equivalent to over 20 large refuse collection trucks.

Paul Tetlow, Marina Manager at St. Katharine Docks, commented: “We have been following the success of the Seabin project for quite some time and are delighted to have three Seabins at St. Katharine Docks as part of our continuous effort to maintain a sustainable marina. We are committed to providing a safe and clean environment for our berth holders, office workers, residents and visitors and are always looking at ways in which we can support sustainability initiatives and help to fight plastic pollution in the oceans.”

A Seabin is a floating rubbish bin designed to be placed at marinas, docks and commercial ports as a partial solution to the water littering problem. Water is syphoned in from the surface and passes through a catch bag inside the Seabin. Clean water is then pumped back into the dock area leaving litter, debris and harmful plastics to be disposed of properly. It also has the potential to collect oils and pollutants floating on the water surface. Each bin can collect up to half a tonne of floating debris per year, including microplastics as small as 2mm.

The Seabin Project was started by two surfers, Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinski, who decided to create a product that would collect rubbish, oil, fuel and detergents with the ultimate goal to have pollution free oceans.

Including the three at St Katharine Docks, there are currently four Seabins in London. The first was installed in the docklands in August 2018 and is maintained by The Good Hotel London.

The very first Seabin installed in the UK was placed at Portsmouth Harbour in late 2017. The second and third were installed at Premier Marinas’ Port Solent marina in June 2018.