Genoa entrusts the cleaning of its port to a “plastic eater”

Source: Image by M. Maggs from Pixabay

The City of Genoa served as the demonstration platform for new sea cleaning technology in the framework of the “A sea of ideas for our waters 2022” (Un mare di idee per le nostre acque 2022) campaign by retailer Coop. The innovative devices in question are a type of a ‘waste vacuum cleaner’ (aspirarifiuti) called Trash Collec’Thor and the Pixie Drone which scouts out garbage on the surface of the water. The two devices are making their debut in Italy, and the port of Genoa is the first place where they will be demonstrated in that country. The demonstration took place at the Marina Genova pier in Sestri Ponente. The Trash Collec’Thor is a new static “plastic eating” device that captures different types of floating waste such as plastic bottles, bags, cigarette butts, but also hydrocarbons and microplastics up to 3 mm in diameter. Its capacity reaches up to 100 kg and a winch facilitates lifting it once it is full. The Pixie Drone explores small areas of the sea or a lake, hunting for plastic waste that floats away from the accumulation points of the jetties. Remote controlled from a distance of 500 meters, it can collect up to 60 kg of waste: from plastic to organic waste, from glass to paper, to fabrics. A team of divers also went under at the port to clean up the sea bottom manually, showing that man’s intervention is still needed in certain areas. Source: https://www.themayor.eu/en/a/view/genoa-entrusts-the-cleaning-of-its-port-to-a-plastic-eater-10558

Hotspot for circular economy in the port of Antwerp

Source: NextGen_site_copyright_Tom_Dhaenens

Port of Antwerp-Bruges would like to support the transition to a climate-neutral society with NextGen District, a hotspot for the circular economy. The commitment of two new concessionaires, Plug and Ekopak, is another important milestone for this cluster in the heart of the Antwerp site. These pioneers’ projects, a green hydrogen plant and a progressive water plant, make an essential contribution to circularity in the port. Plug has signed a concession agreement for the construction of a large-scale green hydrogen production plant. Through a combination of locally produced solar and wind energy and purchased green electricity, it will produce 12,500 tons of liquid and gaseous green hydrogen per year for the European market. In addition, Ekopak will also take up a spot in NextGen District and will install a progressive water plant at the site, named project Waterkracht. It will convert the wastewater from the inhabitants of Antwerp into the much higher quality level of sustainable cooling water that the companies in the port can reuse. At full capacity, the plant will produce up to 3,000m³/hr of sustainable cooling and process water so that minimum 20 billion litres of wastewater can be reused on an annual basis. Via a pipeline network, water-link distributes the circular cooling water so that all industrial companies on both the left and right bank can use it.

For more information, see https://newsroom.portofantwerpbruges.com/nextgen-district-takes-shape-with-players-in-green-hydrogen-and-circular-water-use#

Assessment of implications of new trade routes for the Rhine-Alpine Corridor

Source: Alicia Enríquez Manilla, Fundación Valenciaport

EGTC’s contribution to the PLANET project (https://www.planetproject.eu/) has been showcased at the ePIcenter 3rd annual event on Thursday 16th June. During the session of “Smart Ports Innovations & related EU projects”, Dr. Noriko Otsuka (PLANET project officer) gave a short talk briefing the project and results from the EGTC workshop held in March 2022. The PLANET project addresses the impact of emerging global trade corridors on the TEN-T network and aims to ensure effective integration to the Global Network. The role of EGTC in PLANET is to explore regional and local impacts on the Rhine-Alpine (RALP) Corridor of handling considerable volume of goods due to expanding Eurasian rail freight. The workshop was attended by 14 EGTC members who discussed the simulation results of a baseline scenario (2019) highlighting the Principal Entry Points along the Rhine-Alpine Corridor from Eurasian rail flights from China and maritime. The 2nd workshop will be held this autumn to discuss results of future scenarios (year 2030 and 2050).

ePIcenter is a sister project of PLANET, coordinated by the Port of Antwerp. The project aims to develop and test AI driven logistic software solutions, new transport technologies and supporting methodologies to increase the efficiency of global supply chains and reduce their environmental impact (https://epicenterproject.eu).