Innovative vacuum cleaner removes plastic from nature reserve in the port of Antwerp

From the September 19th, World Clean-up Day, the ‘Nul-o-Plastic’, designed by Envisan (Jan De Nul Group), will get rid of the historical pollution in the Galgeschoor nature reserve in the port of Antwerp.  This vacuum cleaner is the winning design of the Galgeschoor Plastic Challenge and is now ready to remove millions of plastic pellets and other pastics in this nature reserve.

In 2019, Port of Antwerp launched a competition for new clean-up techniques for the plastic pellets that had accumulated in Galgeschoor nature reserve. Despite annual clean-up campaigns, millions of these small plastic particles still remain that cannot be cleaned manually. This is the result of historical pollution caused by plastic waste from cities and municipalities along the river Scheldt and industrial plastic pellets that were lost in the port. Year after year they are transported along the 350 km long Scheldt to ultimately end up in the mudflats and salt marshes.

The Galgeschoor Plastic Challenge challenged participants to come up with a feasible solution in terms of technical, budgetary, logistics and environmental aspects. The aim was to find a solution to clean up a difficult-to-access tidal area with unique vegetation and endangered bird species with minimal impact on flora and fauna. A jury of innovation and environmental experts selected the Envisan plastic waste vacuum cleaner (Jan De Nul Group) from more than 50 entries. Envisan received a cheque for EUR 10,000 and continued to develop the design in conjunction with Port of Antwerp. As from today, the Nul-o-Plastic, a big, manoeuvrable vacuum cleaner on rubber caterpillar tracks, will efficiently vacuum the plastic pellets.  

An Smet, Director of Envisan: “Innovation is our driving force and one of the pillars of our strategy to find circular solutions for a better planet. Our focus is on constantly reducing our ecological footprint.  Not only at our sites and offices, but also on project level. Therefore, we are delighted that the Nul-o-Plastic will effectively be used now. For the first time, our innovative Nul-o-Plastic will also be able to remove all small plastic particles from this nature reserve. We look forward to deploying the Nul-o-Plastic in other port areas as well.”