Thanks to the Upcycling the Oceans initiative, 225 tons of floating marine waste have been collected over two years.
Satlink
The City Council of Canet d'en Berenguer, a municipality in the Valencian Community (Spain) located on the Mediterranean coast, has installed eight smart buoys to create a detailed map of the underwater topography and thus support coastal regeneration efforts.
The Spanish company Satlink has developed these smart buoys, which use an integrated sonar designed to accurately measure the layers of marine sediment accumulated on the seabed in coastal environments.
Furthermore, according to the Spanish regional newspaper Levante-EMV (Levante El Mercantil Valenciano), a marine drone and an aerial drone will be added in the coming weeks. These will allow the information collected by the buoys to be integrated, creating a more accurate map of the seabed.
More specifically, the system will identify the areas where waves form during storms and install mobile reefs to reduce their size and impact on the coastline. According to a study by the Valencian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FVMP), around 64% of coastal towns are affected by shoreline regression.
This has been made possible thanks to the support of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. The project was presented in January 2025 and has been funded by the European Union.
Satlink has also launched the Upcycling the Oceans initiative, which has collected up to 225 tons of floating marine waste over two years through the use of smart buoys.
The project was carried out by the Ecoalf Foundation and Ecoembes, involving 35 partner ports and the local trawling fleet, along with more than 90 port visits and 40 educational activities to raise awareness about marine litter.