Ohio Sea Grant Helps The Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup Divert Over 20,000 Pieces Of Macro- And Microplastics Away From The Great Lakes

Through partnerships with the Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup (GLPC), and with generous funding and support provided by Midwest retailer Meijer, Ohio Sea Grant has completed a successful season deploying their BeBot and Pixie Drone. From April to October 2024, 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 Pixie Drone to clean up marine debris along Ohio’s Lake Erie coastline.

Thanks to the GLPC work supported by Meijer in 2024, 21,764 pieces of debris weighing over 47 pounds were removed from the Lake Erie and Lake Michigan coastlines in Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin, contributing to the over 244,000 pieces (and counting) collected and characterized by the binational GLPC network in the U.S. and Canada since 2020. For more information about the debris collected, please visit greatlakesplasticcleanup.org.

The Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup (GLPC), a joint initiative of Pollution Probe in Canada and the CGLR Foundation, the charitable arm of the 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 the region, including in Ohio. The litter collected was analyzed and categorized throughout the season. 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.

Aside from data analysis, the GLPC is an important vehicle for engaging local communities on the issue of plastic waste and litter in the Great Lakes region. The region holds 84% of North America’s surface freshwater, supplying drinking water for over 40 million residents and supporting diverse ecosystems that are home to thousands of species. Despite the economic and environmental significance of the Great Lakes, however, an estimated 22 million pounds of plastic are entering the lakes annually, posing an environmental challenge that is estimated to cost hundreds of millions of dollars annually to combat. To tackle this in the 2024 season, the GLPC partners supported by Meijer held or participated in more than 110 community facing events engaging over 12,000 community members and encouraging them to reduce plastic waste and litter in their communities.

The innovative 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 that targets floating waste in all forms, organic or anthropogenic.

In April 2022, Meijer donated $1M to CGLR’s charitable arm to clean up Midwestern beaches and waterways with the purchase and use of four BeBots and four PixieDrones. A few months later, in August 2022, Meijer officially launched its participation in the Great Lakes Plastics Cleanup program with the use of the innovative technologies. Most recently, Meijer announced an additional $250,000 donation to the CGLR in April 2024 to launch an additional BeBot and PixieDrone in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with plans of continued expansion through the Midwest. The retailer’s Great Lakes Stewardship Program supports the single largest deployment of these types of eco-friendly and remote-controlled devices across multiple states in the Great Lakes.

This year, the community has an opportunity to make their mark on the GLPC as well as a chance to win one of five $100 Meijer gift cards by submitting name ideas for their local BeBot! We encourage anyone in the Great Lakes region to complete this form with their ideas by 11:59 pm on May 4, 2025. Multiple idea submissions are welcomed. You must be a legal resident of the United States living in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio or Wisconsin and 18 years of age or older at time of entry. We encourage children to work with eligible adults to come up with creative ideas!

“The BeBot and Pixie Drone have engaged the public around the very important issue of plastic marine debris. I strongly believe that the confluence of cutting-edge technology and community engagement is a recipe for conservation success. These types of public-private partnerships are essential for addressing emerging contamination issues in the Great Lakes region and beyond,” said Dr. Scott Hardy, Extension Specialist at Ohio Sea Grant.

"At Meijer, we are proud to partner with the Council of the Great Lakes Region to protect and preserve the Great Lakes for future generations and through this collaboration, we are strengthening our commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship in the communities we serve,” said Erik Petrovskis, Director of Environmental Compliance and Sustainability at Meijer. “Our longstanding relationship with the organization reflects our shared dedication to making a lasting, positive impact on the Great Lakes ecosystem."

“Thanks to our local partners and Meijer, 2024 was another very successful year for the Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup in the United States," said Lora Shrake, Interim Executive Director of the CGLR Foundation. "As a result of the waste characterizations that have been completed, we are learning a lot more about the types of plastic pollution in the Great Lakes watershed, the ways in which it is reaching the lakes, and how we can work together to stop plastic waste and litter in our communities."

As the 2025 season approaches, Ohio Sea Grant, in partnership with the Council of the Great Lakes Region (CGLR) and with the continued support of Meijer, remains dedicated to expanding its efforts to protect the Great Lakes from plastic litter. Building on the success of last year’s initiatives, Ohio Sea Grant looks forward to deploying innovative cleanup technologies at more sites, engaging more communities, and driving meaningful environmental change. Through continued collaboration, these efforts will help ensure a cleaner, healthier Great Lakes region for future generations.

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 (CGLR)
Council of the Great Lakes Region (CGLR), comprised of CGLR Canada, the CGLR Canada Foundation, CGLR USA, and the CGLR Foundation, is a network of charitable and non-charitable organizations in the transnational Great Lakes – St. Lawrence region focused on accelerating the transition to a sustainable future by uniquely bringing diverse perspectives and interests together to explore and solve our most pressing socioeconomic and environmental challenges as one North American Great Lakes region. Through its work, CGLR is striving to create the first sustainable region in the world. For more information, visit 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 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 greatlakesplasticcleanup.org.