The heart of the entire project is called SILVER and is a state-of-the-art robot that will collect seabed samples, then analyse, classify and remove the plastics found in our seas. In this way, and thanks to the Blue Resolution project, the company of frozen products, Arbi, intends to improve the health of the sea and to reduce (over time eliminate) plastic content from food packaging.

What is the Blue Resolution project?

The Blue Resolution project was set up in collaboration with the BioRobotics and Management Institutes of the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa to identify and propose innovative solutions to defend the marine environment from plastics, with a real and concrete response to their elimination.

The protagonist of Blue Resolution is SILVER, developed by the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa. Equipped with sensors for recognising the surrounding environment and detecting his own position, SILVER will have a robotic arm that can interact with the environment and the materials found in it (sampling and collection). The robot will be controlled by an operator on the surface, and a buoy will ensure the GPS connection for positioning, communication and real-time visual feedback.

SILVER’s functions

And that’s not all. In the final version, SILVER 2 will be equipped with an underwater collection station and a filtering system for the analysis of the seabed and the collection of plastics. The complete system, to be called SILVER+, will be able to analyse and monitor the presence of plastics in the seabed, and will be the first robotic system monitoring microplastics in the Mediterranean basin. After monitoring, there will be a campaign of collection and clean-up and therefore of information and public awareness.
This is a three-year project keenly supported by Arbi, which has made environmental sustainability its star focus. In line with EU strategy on plastics and the circular economy, the company has already embarked on a path to reduce consumption and production of plastics for packaging that has already shown first results in 2018. And the brand will go on to drastically reduce plastic materials produced in the next 3 years, well in advance of the terms established by the European Commission, whose target for the recyclability of all plastic packaging is 2030.

by BARBARA MASSARO – from Panorama.it, 24/7/2018