App to Combat Plastic Pollution

BluePoint, a revolutionary phone app developed by Lero researchers at the University of Limerick (UL), is poised to transform the fight against plastic pollution.

Created under the EU-funded BluePoint Project, the app leverages cutting-edge technologies to tackle marine plastic waste while fostering innovative solutions.

Co-director of the Centre for Robotics and Intelligent Systems at UL, Professor Gerard Dooly, said the new app, which is available for iPhone and Android, could also create a pathway for recycling plastic pollution collected along Ireland’s 3,172 kilometres of coastline – the longest coastline per head of population in Europe.

“Employing drones equipped with sensors, the app leverages cutting-edge technologies such as infrared (IR), multispectral imaging, LiDAR, and artificial intelligence (AI) to identify and locate plastic waste in natural environments, particularly beaches and can scan vast areas to pinpoint the exact locations of plastic debris,” he said.

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