Ohio Sea Grant Diverts Plastic As Part Of Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup Partnership

Ohio Sea Grant recently completed another successful season deploying its trash-trapping robots BeBot and PixieDrone, through partnerships with the Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup (GLPC) and generous funding and support provided by Midwest retailer Meijer.

From April to October 2025, Ohio Sea Grant worked with several partners, including Cleveland Metroparks, Cuyahoga Community College Youth Technology Academy, Eriesponsible, and Ohio Clean Marinas, to deploy the BeBot and PixieDrone to clean up marine debris across Ohio’s western and central Lake Erie basins. Through this work, 856 identified pieces of debris were removed from the coastline.

In 2025, Ohio Sea Grant reached over 1,700 people at 17 different outreach events focused on the BeBot and PixieDrone. Eight of those events included beach cleanups, with 754 student and adult volunteers assisting in cleanup efforts throughout the course of the season. Ohio’s BeBot was also officially named Sir Cleans-A-Lot through a community naming competition sponsored by Meijer.

The Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup (GLPC), a joint effort between Pollution Probe and the bi-national Council of the Great Lakes Region (CGLR), is the first-of-its-kind using innovative technology to quickly remove plastic litter and marine debris at sites across t he region, including Lake Erie. The litter collected was analyzed and categorized throughout the season, and the valuable data collected will be published to the GLPC Website and used to identify litter sources and pathways, helping to protect the Great Lakes region, now and for future generations.

The Great Lakes region makes up 84% of North America’s surface freshwater; providing water for over 40 million people, and habitats for thousands of species, many unique to the region. Keeping this vital water resource clean and free of litter is essential, yet the Great Lakes face an alarming waste and plastic litter issue. Models estimate as much as 22 million pounds of plastic could be entering the Great Lakes every year through a variety of sources and pathways, polluting the lakes and their surrounding watersheds—something that will cost hundreds of millions of US dollarsannually to combat.

The technology deployed as part of this important work includes the BeBot and the PixieDrone. The BeBot is a 100% electric, eco-friendly beach cleaning robot that mechanically sifts sand, rakes seaweed, and levels sandy areas to remove plastic waste and other debris without harming the local environment.

The PixieDrone is a floating, remote-controlled, mobile waste collector. The PixieDrone targets floating waste in all forms: organic, plastic, glass, metal, paper, rubber, etc. This drone can be operated in salt, fresh, and brackish waters.

The first retailer to support this beach and water cleaning technology in the Great Lakes, Meijer is proud to preserve the many vital waterways within its six-state footprint and first announced its partnership with the CGLR in 2022 with the deployment of the BeBot and PixieDrone. Since 2022, Meijer has donated nearly $2 million to the charitable arm of Council in the United States, the CGLR Foundation, to expand deployment of two types of innovative litter capture and clean-up technologies, the BeBot and Pixie Drone, to 18 new locations along Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin lakeshores as part of the council's Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup Program.

“Over 80% of the 754 beach cleanup volunteers this season were middle and high school students. In addition to picking up plastic debris themselves, students had the opportunity to operate the BeBot during cleanups. Engaging youth in hands-on learning experiences is key to their understanding of the plastics issue in their local communities,” said Abigail Comar, Marine Debris Outreach Specialist at Ohio Sea Grant.

About Ohio Sea Grant And Stone Laboratory
Ohio Sea Grant is supported by The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) School of Environment and Natural Resources, Ohio State University Extension, and NOAA Sea Grant, a network of 34 Sea Grant programs nation-wide dedicated to the protection and sustainable use of marine and Great Lakes resources. Stone Laboratory is Ohio State’s island campus on Lake Erie and is the research, education, and outreach facility of Ohio Sea Grant and part of CFAES School of Environment and Natural Resources.

About Council Of The Great Lakes Region
The Council of the Great Lakes Region is a binational network of organizations comprised of: (1) the Council of the Great Lakes Region USA, an Ohio-based trade association; (2) the CGLR Foundation, an Ohio-based public charity; and the Council of the Great Lakes Region Canada, a not-for-profit corporation. Together, these organizations, collectively referred to as the Council of the Great Lakes Region, are leading a new era of economic growth, environmental protection, and individual well-being by building the region’s long-term competitiveness and sustainability today. For more information, visit https://councilgreatlakesregion.org/

About Pollution Probe
Pollution Probe is Canada’s longest-standing environmental organization, pursuing environmental gains by working productively with governments, industry, and the public, with a steadfast commitment to Clean Air, Clean Water, and a Healthy Planet. Pollution Probe engages people as thinkers to nurture and act on areas of consensus. For more information, visit https://www.pollutionprobe.org

About The Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup
The Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup, an initiative of the Council of the Great Lakes Region and Pollution Probe with support from a network of funders and collaborators, uses innovative plastic capture technology to quickly capture and remove plastics and other litter from Lake Ontario to Lake Superior and everywhere in between and is one of the largest initiatives of its kind in the world. Through research, outreach and education, the Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup is gathering data on litter entering our waterways and identifying how government, industry, and consumers can work together to reduce, reuse and recycle material waste. For more information, visit www.greatlakesplasticcleanup.org.

About Meijer
Meijer is a privately owned, family-operated retailer that serves customers at more than 500 supercenters, grocery stores, neighborhood markets, and express locations throughout the Midwest. As the pioneer of the one-stop shopping concept, more than 70,000 Meijer team members work hard to deliver a friendly, seamless in-store and online shopping experience featuring an assortment of fresh foods, high-quality apparel, household essentials, and health and wellness products and services. Meijer is consistently recognized as a Great Place to Work and annually donates at least 6 percent of its profit to strengthen its communities. For more information, visit newsroom.meijer.com.