“Pamela” is an uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) developed as an entrepreneurial idea at NTNU for sampling a variety of surface water particles, from microplastic to plankton to salmon lice.
According to the association Plastic Europe, 368 million tonnes of plastic were produced in 2019 worldwide, and around 3%, or 11.4 million tonnes, of this plastic ultimately ends up in the ocean.
Easylift tape is already being employed more widely and was used to collect microplastic samples during a transatlantic sailing expedition on former racing vessel the SV Jolokia last year.
As the plastic in our oceans breaks up into smaller and smaller bits without breaking down chemically, the resulting microplastics are becoming a serious ecological problem.
