This is what the team at Mepex is trying to figure out. In a small garage at Vollen Marina in Asker, Tallak, Trym, Tarje and Jonathen are sorting marine litter from Sotra. Mepex has received funding from the Environment Agency to analyse marine litter and find out where it comes from.
– This bottle is from Iceland, says Jonathan, holding up a bottle with an orange cap. The writing on the cap reveals the country of origin. We are also trying to figure out the contents could have been, and how old it is, he explains.
- With help from our NIR-gun we can figure out what type of plastic the litter consists of, Tallak W. Syversen explains.
NIR technology to determine the type of plastic
Tallak has together with Trym, Tarje and Jonathan analysed marine litter collected in large big bags from Håøya, Jæren and Sotra, and throughout the fall they will continue to analyse marine litter from in total 25 locations across Norway. Mepex has received funding from the Environment Agency to execute this project of which these analyses are a part of.