ISCO corporate member Vikoma has been collaborating with Oracle Environmental Experts in the testing and development of equipment for the recovery of plastic pellets (nurdles) pollution.
Following the UK Spill Marine Spill and Plastic Pollution Conference (11th – 12th June 2024), Vikoma and Oracle agreed to work together to develop solutions for the recovery of plastic pellets from water.
Plastic pellet pollution can be split into 2 main forms:
• Big spill events (acute sources) – e.g. pellets released into the sea/waterways caused by spillage from vessels involved in transport of pellets along the supply chain.
• Legacy pollution (chronic sources) – e.g. pellets that appear on beaches, in harbours and on riverbanks usually from industrial sources or wastewater treatment.
The new Vikoma Enviro Skimmer is being developed to respond to big spill events where skimmer systems can be deployed to recover pellets prior to them hitting the beach or shoreline. A combination of the skimmer, containment boom and filtration system reportedly produced good results during the trials conducted by Vikoma and Oracle.
More information:
Harvey Stanton, Vikoma International Limited, Kingston Road, East Cowes, Isle Of Wight PO32 6JS. Tel: + 44 (0) 1983 200560.
