Orlando, Fla. — Cyril Castello just might have had the best job at NPE2024. Or at least one that's the most fun.
As sales director for IADYS SAS, a robotics and artificial intelligence firm, Castello drove one of his company's Jellyfishbot pollution skimmers around a wading pool constructed at the NPE Sustainability Hub. The hub showcased several companies looking to make the plastics industry more sustainable during the trade show May 6-10 in Orlando.
IADYS makes skimmers that can be remotely controlled or operate autonomously to gather floating waste, including plastic pollution. The machine originally launched as a vehicle for helping to clean up marinas, lakes and ports. But the company just recently launched a new, more robust model aimed at the industrial market, Castello said.
Resin plants can use the Jellyfishbot Expert model to help clean fugitive pellets that might end up in retention ponds, for example.
"One operator can take it by hand, just lift it and put it in the trunk of his car and go immediately to any polluted area," Castello said.
Petrochemical companies as well as contractors have already bought the newest version of Jellyfishbot, but the sales director declined to say how many have been sold so far.
The Jellyfishbot weighs about 40 pounds and can be launched and retrieved by one person, Castello explained. The unit measures about 2.3 feet, or 70 centimeters, from side to side and front to back. The height is about 1.64 feet, or 50 centimeters.
The vessel, with an elevated center, skims the surface of water, passing over debris and collecting it in a mesh bag with 80 liters of space.
Each Jellyfishbot costs between $30,000-$40,000, and there are more than 110 of them floating around the world, including the original model for marine debris and the new model for industrial use, Castello said.
While plastics processors and resin makers might be most interested in the model of the Jellyfishbot designed for floating waste, there also is another configuration of the vessel that can collect oil from the surface of water.
"This robot is collecting floating waste and oil from the surface of the water. So it's very small to go between the boats, all the ropes in marina. Also we are seeing this robot in industrial facilities to collect plastic pellets. In fact, we've been contacted by big players from USA and France. ... They are looking for a solution to collect plastic pellets at their facilities," he said.
The Roquefort-la-Bédoule, France-based company started in 2016, and the first sale was in 2018 for marine use. The new version for industrial use has been around for just eight months.