Grand Valley State University's Annis Water Resources Institute will demonstrate new plastic-removing technology at Meijer in Norton Shores.
Grand Valley State University's Annis Water Resources Institute will showcase cutting-edge technology designed to eliminate plastic pollution from the Great Lakes on Sept. 4. The demonstration at Meijer in Norton Shores will feature the Laker Raker, a fully electric drone that sifts sand, rakes seaweed, and removes plastic debris from beaches. Experts Jamie Cross and Amanda Buday will also discuss the Great Bubble Barrier, a microbubble system currently being tested in the Grand River in downtown Lansing. This system uses a perforated tube to inject bubbles upward, pushing plastics toward the shorelines for easier collection. The Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup initiative, in partnership with the Council of the Great Lakes Region, has deployed these drones for four years. The project aims to address the environmental problem of 22 million pounds of plastic entering the Great Lakes annually, which costs hundreds of millions of dollars to solve. Meijer provides financial support for the technology and the research conducted by the institute.