On Tuesday 19 November, more than 300 students, businesses, authorities, and voluntary organizations will come together to purify Store Lundegårdsvann of plastic. The area will be a test arena for the development of new technology for the collection of marine waste.

– Plastic waste from blasting stones has become a huge problem. When filling up rock mass in the sea, explosive remnants are flushed into the water and we see how large amounts of plastic spread and contribute to pollution. We will address this. First, we reset the area. Then we use available and new technology to prevent new spread of litter, says Eirik Langeland in NOSCA Clean Oceans.

Tuesday 19 November at 10.00 – 13.30 the cluster organization NOSCA Clean Oceans, consisting of technology companies and research institutions, Clean Shores Global, Skanska, Bybanen Utbygging, Hordaland Fylkeskommune, Bergen municipality and Amalie Skram High School will carry out a thorough clean-up in Store Lungegårdsvann.

NOSCA Clean Ocean has entered into a collaboration with Bybanen Utbygging and the contractor Skanska to develop technology to prevent the discharge of explosive fuses by filling in explosives in the sea.

In connection with the development of Bybanen, around approx. 700,000 m3 of rock is filled in Store Lungegårdsvann. The filling mass will contain several tons of plastic. Plastic originating from previous fillings in the area has already been washed out of the rock masses and moved to the surface and / or out to sea. A boom is laid out to prevent plastic from new blasting stones from spreading further.

– To prevent further spread, we will use Store Lungegårdsvann as a test arena for new technological and automated solutions for collecting plastic. Our ambition is to develop the solution that can be commercially available and lay the foundation for requirements for emission-free fillings of explosives in the sea. In this way, solutions and technology can be exported to other countries where marine litter is a greater challenge, points out Eirik Langeland.

In the action, the outside of the boom along the entire banks of Store Lungegårdsvannet will be cleared so that a zero point for the project is established.

– We have around 330 VG1 students from Amalie Skram school with us in the clean-up campaign, in addition to the other actors. We are therefore dependent on a tight organization of the work so that it is carried out in a safe manner. The clearing area is divided into 13 zones to be cleaned, with emergency boats in each zone. In several areas without access from land, the relevant companies line up, says Rune Gaasø from the voluntary organization Clean Shores Global.

Participating in the clean-up operation are a number of actors in the immediate area, such as Skanska, the Bergen Fire Brigade, the motorboat associations, the Norwegian Air Ambulance, the Port of Bergen, RS Frivillig, Bergen and Omegn Friluftsråd to name a few.