The Maelstrom project starts in 2020. It is a Smart technology for Marine Litter Sustainable Removal and Management project that aims to develop technology specifically designed to curb the problem of marine litter. The project, which involves partners in several European countries, aims to monitor plastic and microplastic litter in the open sea, on beaches and on the seabed.
Infordata, as a technology partner, developed a cloud backend and an APP for smartphones to
manage the monitoring and cleaning of such marine litter.
The system interfaces with European databases (Emodnet) to share data with the scientific environment.
The APP allows operators and volunteers to carry out monitoring and cleaning activities, the smartphone camera facilitates the identification of the litter and the GPS allows the location of the litter.
The collected data is sent to the Backend Cloud and displayed on interactive maps that allow to check in detail where the litter is most collected and what type of litter it is.
Finally, repeated monitoring over time provides “timelapses” on maps to see how waste evolves over time, while KPIs allow targets to be monitored.
But the benefits the project can bring to the environment do not end there. Once recovered, waste is sorted and sent for recycling or transformed into other products to become a new reusable resource
in the name of a true circular economy.
On 29 June 2022, the project was presented at the European Conference on Oceans in Lisbon.