Eco Catamaran cleans the Sea in Ibiza

Ibiza has set a target to drastically reduce plastic waste in our waters, and a major step in that direction was taken with the launch of the solar powered Ocean Clean Up Catamaran. This boat is named “iBi”, and it includes a unique system that filters and removes plastic from the seas surrounding Ibiza and Formentera. The filters work at 50 cm below the surface collecting plastic of all sizes - from 2 cm up to the maximum of the boat's width. The design is based on La Bella Verde’s 100% emission free eco boat, which is powered entirely by the elements. The iBi Catamaran works every day, and each hour it covers about 22,000 m2, whilst filtering 11,000 m3 of seawater.
The creators of this project are Ed and Joke Pronk, a couple from the Netherlands who are now living in Ibiza. They were inspired to do something when they rescued a sea turtle that had been caught in plastic just off the coast of Ibiza. They began using a small scoop net to collect plastic from their boat, but soon wanted to do more. According to Ed: “Although we were making an impact it was slow, so we started to think about a quicker and more efficient way to do this. Then we met the people from La Bella Verde and their solar powered catamarans.” Ed and Joke created the iBi Foundation to manage this project, and plans are already in development to add another catamaran.