Meet Michigan’s Beach Cleaning Robot | News, Sports, Jobs

Image courtesy of the DNR Michigan’s newest beach cleaning robot, BeBot

Michigan has a new helper dedicated to keeping our beaches clean: a traveling robot. Thanks to this new technology, called “BeBot,” Trash like cigarette butts, food wrappers, and plastics will be less common on inland lake beaches and the Great Lakes shoreline. Developed by Niteko Robotics, BeBot will now be found on many state park beaches. The electrically powered, remotely operated robot can travel more than 30,000 feet per hour.

“The Michigan State Parks and Recreation System strives to find innovations that help us operate efficiently, save time and resources, while providing our visitors with high-quality outdoor recreation experiences,” said Ron Olson, chief of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Parks and Recreation Division.

“This innovative tool is an opportunity to improve our methods of maintaining and cleaning beaches,” Olson added.

The DNR’s Parks and Recreation Division purchased BeBot in 2023. It was first used in the Rose Lake District in southeastern Michigan. This summer, it debuted on Belle Isle. It is also being used in areas such as the international Detroit River.

“Since 2017, the Belle Isle Conservancy has educated thousands of people about the dangers of single-use plastics, removed more than 40,000 pounds of plastic litter from Belle Isle and its waterways, and collaborated with local artists and designers to repurpose the waste collected during our cleanups to create and display visual stories about sustainability,” said Genevieve Rattray, director of sustainability and advocacy for the Belle Isle Conservancy.

BeBot, funded by Meijer, not only helps remove plastic waste, but also investigates its sources on beaches in Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.

“Meijer is proud to support the BeBot pilot program at Belle Isle Beach, which demonstrates our commitment to environmental stewardship and innovation in the Great Lakes region,” says Erik Petrovskis, director of environmental legislation and sustainability at Meijer.

He continued, “As a family-owned company with a long history of serving Michigan communities, we care deeply about the health and beauty of our natural resources and the well-being of our customers and team members. We applaud the City of Detroit for their leadership and partnership in this groundbreaking initiative to reduce plastic waste and protect our waterways.”

The DNR will continue to work with the city of Detroit and other partners to secure funding to expand the Belle Isle cleanup and purchase another BeBot. They are also working to purchase a PixieDrone, a remotely operated floating trash collector that can be used to clean up local waterways.

The Belle Isle Conservancy plans to have the BeBot work during public cleanups. They will also undergo waste characterizations. This process helps determine how much paper, glass, food waste and other materials are thrown away. Data from these studies can be used to plan ways to reduce waste in general.

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