How did Lazio stop 10 tons of river trash from reaching the sea?

There’s a little something called a ‘waste-catcher barrier’ involved

The government of Lazio has announced that it has already taken out more than 10 tons of trash from the region’s rivers ever since new devices had been set up earlier on. The devices in question are the so-called waste-catcher barriers (or barriera acchiapparifiuti in Italian).

The trash traps - designed to collect plastic and other rubbish dumped in rivers before it reaches the sea - were installed in recent years on the Aniene, Tevere and Gargliano rivers.

A smart, and tech-free, barrier

The rubbish-catching devices intercept floating trash, accumulating it before it is collected by boat and then recycled into street furniture. The barrier system operates based on the varying buoyancy of materials, catching man-made waste but allowing natural debris, such as wood or reeds, to continue on their journey toward the sea.

The floating barriers are themselves made out of plastic, but they are resistant to the force of the water. The trash-trapper is anchored by poles to the riverbank.

Following the accumulation between the barrier and the bank, the garbage is collected (at least twice a week) by hand or by means of a ground vehicle, such as a mechanical spider, which transport from the river to the temporary deposit site.

The waste is then stored in suitable containers at a temporary warehouse and subsequently transported first to a weighing plant and then to a plant for selection and subsequent recycling or disposal. 

"More than 30,000 bottles have been recovered as well as about 1.5 tons comprising fuel canisters, tires, refrigerators, gas cylinders, water heaters, helmets, mattresses, ping pong tables, washing machines,” Lazio Region’s President Nicola Zingaretti said on Monday, as quoted by Wanted in Rome.