Port Initiatives
PortsToronto Expands Seabins Program to Clean Up Plastic Pollution BY LEO RYAN
M
anaged by PortsToronto and the University of Toronto Trash Team, the Seabins Program to capture plastics and microplastics debris in Great Lakes waterways has had auspicious results upon entering its third year. U of T Trash Team researchers report that over the 2020 season, between July and October, PortsToronto’s Seabins diverted an average of 85,000 small pieces of anthropogenic debris from Lake Ontario. Other than tiny trash, including microplastics (smaller than 5-millimetres), which are by far the most common items collected by the Seabins, other commonly found macroplastics include clear plastic packaging, hard plastic fragments from takeout containers or plastic packaging, and cigarette butts. During the course of the 2020 research season, the U of T Trash Team also discovered that vegetation collected by the Seabins has an important role to play in accumulating microplastics. While the Seabins are effective in capturing floating litter and debris as small as 2-millimetres, plant material collected in the bins acted as a magnet to capture tiny microplastics, such as pre-production plastic pellets, that might otherwise pass through the Seabin’s capture bag. On average,
Seabins diverted 85,000 pieces of debris in a 4-month period
PortsToronto’s Seabins diverted more than 11,000 plastic pellets from Toronto’s harbour. The initial phase in 2019 saw two bins installed at the Outer Harbour Marina – a first in Canada. In 2020, two additional bins were secured to a floating dock at Pier 6. In 2021, further expansion is planned. Meanwhile, with plastic debris accounting for about 80% of the litter
found on Great Lakes shorelines, the Council of the Great Lakes Region (CGLR) announced the launch of the first phase of the Great Lakes Plastic Initiative with a wide range of partners in 2020. It provides for 16 Seabin devices and additional Littatraps to be installed at marinas across Ontario. Littatraps are installed inside storm drains to catch refuse before it enters waterways. n
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