With its black triangle-shaped tractor treads and handheld remote control, the latest in beach litter-removing technology looks more like something that specialized military bomb-removal teams might employ.
But it's here in New Hanover County, and officials with Keep New Hanover Beautiful have big plans for their trash-collecting remote-controlled robot, roughly the size of a small rising lawnmower, that can sift through sand and pick up waste such as bottles, food wrappers, cigarette butts, and plastic particles that lie just under the beach's surface.
Dick Brightman, executive director of the local chapter, was quick to stress, however, that the robot isn't the answer to beach littering.
"It's not the solution," he said, as he played with the remote control and maneuvered the robot out of the trailer it's housed in when not working. "But what it does is shows people that even though the beach might look clean on the surface, it's not.
"It's a phenomenal educational tool, conversation starter," he said. "But it's not the answer to keeping our beaches clean."
The robot, traveling at a leisurely 3 mph, makes passes of roughly 4-feet wide and 30- to 50-feet long, scraping the beach from 1 to 4 inches below the surface. Then, as if sifting for gold, the sand is run over a vibrating grate.
While small items, including sand, falls through, trash and shells and any other large items are captured on the grate. The grate is then elevated, and the large items fall into a collection device at the rear of the robot.
Brightman said after a few runs or when the crowd around the robot is big enough, because the French-made Bebot always draws a crowd when it hits the beach, volunteers stop the robot and sift through what's been captured.
"We collect the trash and remove it, recycle it if we can, and return the shells to the surf line. And the trash we find is just amazing," he said, shaking his head, as he held a plastic tub full of plastic drink straw wrappers, used Band-Aids, cigarette butts, zip ties and even a large metal serving spoon.
Along with being unsightly, unsanitary and a health hazard, beach trash can pose a threat to wildlife from shorebirds to sea turtles. If washed out to sea, the litter also can be consumed by marine life, causing long-term health issues if it lodges in their throats or collects in their stomachs.
New Hanover's Bebot, which weighs about 1,300 pounds, is one of just 11 in the U.S. − and the only one in the Tar Heel State − and 45 in the world, Brightman said. Funded through a $75,000 grant from the national Keep America Beautiful group, the local chapter has had the robot since October.
But getting it actually out on the sand has been about as slow a process as the robot crawls.
Regulatory and permitting issues, including concerns that the robot might disturb sea turtle nests, have meant the Bebot hasn't been as active as officials would like. Then there is the bad taste in some people's mouths left behind by Carolina Beach's attempts in the early 2000s to deploy a sand rake to help keep its beach strand clean and manicured.
"This isn't a beach rake," Brightman said firmly. "It doesn't have the potential impact one of those would have."
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The Bebot also has something a beach rake simply doesn't have: That "cool" factor.
“On the beach when kids are out there, it’s a magnet," he said, noting that parents − particularly men − are pretty impressed by the high-tech beach sweeper, too. "Everyone just stops what they're doing and comes over to see what it is because it's a robot.
"Who doesn't love robots!"
Brightman said after demonstration events in Carolina Beach and Wrightsville Beach and at the county's Earth Day celebration, officials are looking at having Bebot hit the beach in Carolina Beach after Memorial Day. They also intend to take it on the road to Surf City and Kure Beach and team up with students from Wrightsville Beach Elementary for an educational event − once all the necessary regulatory hurdles have been cleared.
"People are curious, especially kids, and we hope that it's really going to help us get that message out there about how we can prevent or at least limit beach litter and marine debris.
"And who doesn't love robots?"
Reporter Gareth McGrath can be reached at GMcGrath@Gannett.com or @GarethMcGrathSN on X/Twitter. This story was produced with financial support from the Green South Foundation and the Prentice Foundation. The USA TODAY Network maintains full editorial control of the work.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: New Hanover County has a robot that cleans beaches
