Inspired by a whale and its baleen, three Frenchmen have designed a system that filters water and retains waste in rivers.
80% of the pollution in the oceans comes from the land, mainly carried by rivers. However, there is no permanent mechanism to combat the flow of waste upstream. At the local level, only sporadic actions of waste collection are organized, which do not allow to respond to the phenomenon of permanent circulation of waste.
Brice Pasquier, Sébastien Maréchal, David Bourcart created a company, H2OPE, to fight the pollution of rivers, streams and oceans and actively participate in the preservation of the environment. In 2017, these three Frenchmen came up with the principle of a mesh of collectors and developed the River Whale concept. Inspired directly by a whale and its baleen, it filters water and retains waste. By acting 24 hours a day, and thanks to regular surveys of the waste captured, this project makes it possible to act significantly on the mass of waste in circulation. The waste can thus retain its recyclability potential, avoiding a stay in the water that causes its progressive degradation into micro-waste.
The first aquatic waste collector
River Whale is the first aquatic waste collector that can be deployed in a large-scale network to cover large portions of rivers, capturing floating waste autonomously and permanently, without energy consumption. It has been awarded the Solar Impulse label (« 1000 Solutions to change the world »).
The young company is planning a local deployment in France in the 20 largest cities crossed by a network of rivers. It aims to develop abroad, in Europe and in any country interested in a concrete action to fight against plastic pollution of rivers and oceans.
Would you like to discover the River Whale?
H2ope.fr
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