Trelleborg provides fenders for ocean cleanup project

TRELLEBORG, Sweden—Trelleborg A.B. is supplying seven floating pneumatic fenders to Ocean Cleanup, a non-profit organization working on technologies to remove plastic from the ocean.

The fenders, delivered through its fender rental service in the Netherlands, will be part of one of the group's solutions in testing, according to a Trelleborg news release.The type of fenders generally are used for energy absorption when ships meet at sea, but these will be part of a set of giant floating buoys connected to create a wind area, Trelleborg said. The area functions as a sail to pull the Ocean Cleanup's passive drifting boom system, System 001/B, forward to retain plastic in the Pacific Ocean, more than 1,000 miles from shore.

The fenders are meant to increase wind current, which will enable System 001/B to hold onto plastic for longer periods of time, the firm said. It consists of a floater of about 490 feet, sitting at the surface of the water with a tapered skirt of about 10 feet below. Plastic collects within the boundaries of the system as it moves through the water, and the concentrated plastic will be brought to shore for recycling. Revenue gained will help fund the expansion of clean-up to the remaining four ocean gyres, or large systems of rotating currents.

"As a socially responsible company, Trelleborg is committed to help facilitate a more sustainable future for our planet by addressing the problems caused by excessive plastic waste," Richard Hepworth, president of Trelleborg's marine and infrastructure operation, said in a statement. "So much so, we're fully invested in Trelleborg Group's 'Message in a Bottle' campaign, which aims to eliminate the singe use of plastic bottles across every business within Trelleborg by 2020."