Scope of work

Catchy 2  is a riverine litter collection system designed to work in a flowing river. The system was installed under the Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam in May 2022 with plans of remaining there for at least one year. In March 2023 the permit was extended for another 5 years.

Second generation of riverine plastic collection systems

The first generation of Catchy has been in operation for several years and allowed for proper performance assessment. The design parameters of the first system are used for the basics of Catchy 2, only we wanted to go further with the second generation with possible scale-up in mind.

Technological differences

The most important differences are technological. The new system is to be deployed beneath the Erasmusbrug in Rotterdam, in the river Nieuwe Maas. This means that it must cope with different variables than the first system has to. The biggest difference is the continuous flow of a large river, in this case near a coastal area. Catchy 2  is designed to be able to remove plastic from the rive both in ebb and in flood conditions with varying direction of flow. This is enabled by innovation, where the clever non-return door systems have been adjusted to the flow. Another big difference is the use of floaters instead of spud-piles, allowing adjustable mooring. These floaters provide the structural stability needed, but improve adaptability to different situations. Furthermore, by integrating the floaters, which are made of HDPE, into the frame, the amount of steel used is reduced significantly. This means Catchy 2 has a lower environmental impact.

Read more about Allseas’ efforts of collect plastics from rivers and waterways before it can spread to our oceans.