Connection to Clean Technology

The U of T Trash Team, in collaboration with organizations from the Toronto Inner Harbour Floatables Strategy, monitors a suite of cleanup technologies to help reduce plastic pollution in waterways across Toronto. These devices called trash traps, include Seabins, WasteSharks, Osprey Litter Booms, and LittaTraps. Their philosophy behind the use of trash traps is that they are a great addition to community cleanups as they can work 24/7, 7 days a week, and collect waste ranging from large anthropogenic debris down to small microplastics. Community cleanups and trash traps are part of the solution to plastic pollution, providing a method to begin removing plastic from aquatic ecosystems and help alleviate the ecological issues plastic generates. Most significantly, trash traps can help people to understand the root cause of plastic pollution entering our waterways.

Currently, the U of T Trash Team monitors a family of Seabins across the Toronto Waterfront and Outer Harbour Marina. Seabins are floating filtration devices that sit on the water's surface and trap plastic debris, preventing it from entering the waterway and ending up in our oceans. U of T Trash Team also monitors LittaTraps in storm drains alongside Osprey Litter booms in basins along Queens Quay in Toronto. LittaTraps sit in storm drains and prevent the plastic waste carried by stormwater from entering our lakes and oceans. Osprey Litter Booms are floating barriers designed to prevent litter from continuing to float downstream. Combined with skimming, a manual technique that involves using a net to skim and remove plastic pollution from the water, the U of T Trash Team has diverted a total of 118.15 kg of plastic debris, including 96,208 small plastic pieces from Toronto's waterways in the summer of 2022. Recently, the U of T Trash Team has collaborated with Ports Toronto to monitor WasteSharks. WasteSharks are modelled after Whale Sharks and are essentially aqua drones that operate either autonomously or by remote control, with the capacity to remove up to 1100 lbs of waste from the aquatic environment.

After each trash trap is emptied, data is collected on the weight of the trash and the different types of waste found in the bins. Then, this data is compiled and used to inform future research, educational campaigns, and policy. From the data the U of T Trash Team has collected, they found that cigarette butts, small foam, and single-use food ware are some of the most prevalent plastics captured by their trash traps. U of T Trash Team also collaborates with Ocean Conservancy to lead the International Trash Trap Network (ITTN) to help other individuals and groups across the globe clean and utilize trash traps for cleanup and to collect data as part of the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC). To do this- the ITTN has developed resources for groups to use to implement trash-trapping technologies in their communities and document the waste they divert, uploading their data to an app. The app functions to collect data from trash traps across the globe and make it available for public use. Other resources from the ITTN include a checklist for groups to follow when placing new technologies into aquatic ecosystems, methods for data collection, and activities for education and outreach.

For more information on the U of T Trash Trapping Programs and their trash trap collaborators, we encourage you to visit the following websites.