Drones have been deployed in the Netherlands to help manage and collect waste in the port of Rotterdam. Two water based drones from Dutch company, RanMarine, are part of a six month trial involving startup and other companies to investigate potential methods to help clean up plastic based litter from the European waterway.

Key Takeaways:

• If you’re in the Netherlands in the next few months, keep an eye on the ports: there are garbage collectors in Rotterdam wading in the water.
• These aren’t actual human trash collectors, mind you, but water drones.
• In early September, Dutch tech company RanMarine debuted two aquatic drones to help clean up the Rotterdam port: the AquasmartXL and the Waste Shark.

“The drones will soon be a part of a six-month pilot project called the Port Waste Catch, which the Port Authority of Rotterdam hopes will get startups and other private companies thinking about how to clean up the “plastic soup” littering Europe’s busiest waterway.”

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