“Where am I at this moment? I’m in the Adriatic, we started from Venice ». At 8 o’clock on a misty morning, Commander Andrea Beltramin is already at sea for one of the three weekly trips to collect plastic waste. Beltramin, 60, connects with the Courier service directly from Ecolaguna 4 FZ, a boat 36 meters long and 9 wide: «There are five of us on board, our patrol area is very large, from Trieste to Ravenna, right where the main rivers of Northern Italy flow. We also have a collection capacity of 500 tons of liquid product, because we also collect hydrocarbons in case of spills ».
Andrea Beltramin at the command of Ecolaguna 4FZ
Castalia
The tanker driven by Beltramin is one of the 32 boats, 19 of which are intended for patrol, in Castalia. “We are a consortium established in the 1980s that brings together 33 Italian companies, including those of the main Italian shipowners”, explains Lorenzo Barone, technical director of Castalia. «The consortium has always operated in the sector of marine anti-pollution by hydrocarbons and in emergency response. Our clients are the Ministry of the Environment, the European Union, the European Maritime Safety Agency Emsa, Eni and other energy groups. A new agreement with the ministry began on 23 December which, in addition to the recovery of hydrocarbons spilled into the sea, also provides for the collection of floating plastic waste found during patrols ».
Cleaning the sea
In practice, they clean the sea from what is discharged from rivers, but also from fishing nets, often illegal, abandoned and which cause great damage to marine ecosystems. «All the units are equipped with specific containers to be able to store the collected waste which is then brought to the ground», explains Barone. “The waste collected in this way is then collected by Corepla – the consortium for the collection and recycling of plastic – in six ports that alternate over a period of eight months”. Castalia is the only company in Italy to operate in this sector. “We are achieving excellent results with plastic, also because 5 years ago we developed and patented a barrier system on rivers to intercept floating plastic waste”. The good results of the collection are unfortunately not good news for the environment, because it means that there is a lot of plastic in the sea.
At the mouth of the Tiber
Alessandro Amato is in command of the Giada I, a boat of about 8 meters in length, with two other crew on board, which operates in the port of Fiumicino at the mouth of the Tiber. «We officially started on January 21st and it is going very well. In the first month alone, we collected 400 kilos of plastic: that’s a lot if you think that a bottle weighs a few grams. 90-95% of what we collect comes from the Tiber, it should be intercepted before it reaches the sea ». Last year an experiment was carried out by placing two fixed barriers along the river: “We recovered a lot of material”, recalls Amato, “mostly bottles and small jars”. Fiumicino’s is a smaller boat than Beltramin’s. “We operate along the coast, at most 500-600 meters from the shore. We go out in the winter five times a week, in the summer the amount of waste decreases and we go out 3-4 times. I have always worked in the field of oil spills at sea, I like this job. In recent years the sea conditions have improved a bit, but everything always comes out of the Tiber: when there are floods, large quantities of plastic arrive ».
The routes
Castalia operates on all Italian coasts. There are also four specialized units for chemical risks based in Ravenna, Gela, Livorno and Sardinia. “Our units travel on pre-established routes, we patrol all areas with hydrocarbon platforms and marine areas that are protected or sensitive to ecosystems,” says the technical director of Castalia. «In recent times the oil spilled into the sea has decreased thanks to the criminal laws that have been introduced. Before, however, it was customary to drain the bilge water without problems. It is too early to say for plastic, but I am confident », concludes commander Beltramin as he directs the Ecolaguna 4 FZ in the Adriatic offshore towards Punta della Maestra, at the mouth of the Po.
