Aarhus collects water waste with water drone

It can collect up to 60 kilos of waste per trip

The Danish city of Aarhus has launched a new water drone in a bid to clean up waste, announced the Municipality. The drone is able to collect up to 60 kilos of waste before it has to be emptied. This procedure is currently done manually by hand and this automatic solution will be integrated in autumn. The drone will be in the waters of Aarhus on Fridays and the weekends from 10 to 16 o’clock. 

“It functions exactly just like a lawn mower you can have at home in the garden. It sails around within an area that we have identified, and then collects the waste that gets caught along the way,” told Bo Fristed, head of Innovation, Technology, and Creativity in Aarhus Municipality. Mr Fristed is also working on developing technology with which the drone can collect oil and petrol residues from the water.

The eco initiative of the city of Aarhus supports the UN’s 14th Global Goal, which is about protecting marine life, and preserving and ensuring sustainable use of the world’s oceans and their resources. Advancing the sustainable use and conservation of the waters continues to require effective strategies and management to combat the adverse effects of overfishing, growing ocean acidification and worsening coastal eutrophication.