ocean debris vacuum cleaner

left-right: north sea edition, indian ocean edition, mediterranean sea edition, pacific ocean edition, baltic sea edition

‘vac from the sea’ is an environmental project initiated by electrolux as a means of raising awareness around the marine plastic problem, by collecting ocean plastic waste and making vacuum cleaners out of it as a means of encouraging consumers and industry to recycle more.

five unique vacuum cleaners have been crafted from plastic debris collected from five bodies of water: pacific ocean, indian ocean, north sea, mediterranean sea and baltic sea. each one represents the ocean from which the plastic originates, and all models are fully functional and have been built using the same core structure (chassis, engine, bag compartment) as the new electrolux ultra one green-model. the global initiative aims to bring attention to the issue of plastic pollution while at the same time, combatting the scarcity of recycled plastics needed for making sustainable home appliances.

the plastic debris has been collected in partnership with organizations including: B.E.A.C.H. on hawaii, blue view divers in thailand and surfrider foundation in france.

electrolux green range concept vac with vac from the sea – pacific ocean edition (side view)

the vacuum cleaners embody the plastic paradox: oceans are full of plastic waste, yet on land there is a shortage of recycled plastic for producing sustainable vacuum cleaners. electrolux makes green range vacuum cleaners from 70 percent recycled plastic, but wants to reach 100 percent.

‘our intention is to bring awareness to the situation and the need for better plastic karma. so far, over 60 million people have been reached and we are continuing the initiative following the great response.’ – cecilia nord, vice president – floor care sustainability and environmental affairs, electrolux

electrolux green range concept vac with vac from the sea – pacific ocean edition

left: vac from the sea – baltic sea edition right: vac from the sea – indian ocean edition

the baltic sea edition concept vacuum cleaner plastic was collected from three different sites: gdansk, poland, sandhamn, sweden and klapkalnciems, latvia. in sweden, special vac from the sea-envelopes were distributed to people in the small harbor of sandhamn in the stockholm archipelago. the envelopes were stuffed with beach litter, then sent to electrolux.

plastic from phi phi islands, thailand was collected from both beaches and the underwater seabed to construct the vac from the sea – indian ocean edition. much of the debris found consisted of fishing gear such as nets and plastic ropes. coral reef diving methods were used to collect the plastic parts. large chunks of styrofoam, household garbage, plastic bags, buckets drink bottles and detergent containers were also found. the collected plastic was split in a shredder into thin strips. white and colored plastic strips were mounted in a patter that covers the entire top and hub caps of the vacuum cleaner.

left: vac from the sea – pacific ocean edition right: vac from the sea – mediterranean sea edition

much of the plastic of the pacific ocean edition has been bleached by the sun and corroded by salt water. red/dark objects often attracts birds, fish and other sea-animals when they think they are food. much of the plastic remaining in the sea and that which washes up on the beach is usually blue green or white. the collection site in hawaii saw some of the debris covered with barnacles and annelid worms. others had traces of bite marks from sharks.

most of the plastic from the st. cyr-sur-mer, france that was used to compose the mediterranean sea edition were objects thrown or washed out to sea from the beaches: beach toys, beverage cans, food containers, PET bottles… tourism provides the mediterranean sea with tons of plastic on a daily basis, much of it remaining in the sea forever because of plastic’s  slow degradation. plastic from marseille was cut into heart-shaped pieces and attached to a thin shell of industrially recycled plastic. hot air was used to form the plastic close to the vacuum cleaner.

left: vac from the sea – north sea edition right: electrolux green range vacuum

plastic was gathered on the bohuslän beaches in sweden for the vac from the sea – north sea edition. largely consisting of cans, detergent bottles, plastic buckets and packaging, the plastic remnants were not bleached in the same way as in the oceans, giving the vacuum a loud strong color. plastic was washed, cleaned and cut into pieces which were then punched into circular tokens. these were then applied onto a fiberglass weave, moulded after the shape of the vacuum cleaner.

vac from the sea – indian ocean edition colection site: koh phi phi island, thailand collection method: coral reef diving partners: blue view divers

local partner blue view divers state that discarded plastic bags amount to a huge number and cause a lot of problems in koh phi phi as the resident hawksbill turtle population often dies from swallowing plastic, mistaking them for jellyfish.

waste was found among staghorn corals

‘we also removed several plastic bags and plastic bottles from the dive site that had become trapped amongst the staghorn corals and dive site.’ – electrolux – vac from the sea

‘the removal of the nets was a slow and careful process of cutting the net, making sure we did not break the fragile coral that had entangled it.’ – blue view divers, electrolux – vac from the sea

cleaning up the cost in sagerrak, sweden

vac from the sea – north sea edition collection site: skagerrak, sweden collection method: coastal clean up partners: sotenäs municipality

plastic garbage found along the north sea

vac from the sea – mediterranean sea edition collection site: st. cyr-sur-mer, france collection method: beach clean up partners: surfrider foundation

beach clean-up in st. cyr-sur-mer, france

plastic on the sea bottom

school children getting involved

vac from the sea – baltic sea edition collection site: sandhamn, sweden, gdansk, poland, ragaciems, klapkalnciems, latvia collection method: coastal clean up with locals partners: islanders, sandhman, sweden; the hel marine station, slupsk elementary school, poland; pedas, latvia

a look at some of the production images taken during the building process of the vacuums:

bright colored tokens cover the hood of the north sea vacuum cleaner

detail of north sea edition vacuum

work being done on the pacific ocean edition vacuum

plastic collected from the pacific ocean

gathered plastic from the pacific had a completely different color scale than the plastic from other oceans. it is assumed the plastic has been in the ocean for years, bleached by the sun and corroded by salt water, giving it a light pastel color.

left: hood made of shredded PET-bottles right: a rope found amongst the plastic from hawaii was used as a vacuum cleaner handle

left: plastic debris from the atlantic ocean right: plastic waste from two oceans. the french plastic marseille consisted mainly of PET-bottles and ‘tourist litter’. the swedish plastic from sotenäs contained different sorts of packaging, bottles, buckets and household waste.