Drones to Assist with Finding Hidden Trash on Clean Up Australia Day

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby

Sydney-based drone startup Aerologix has announced a partnership with Clean Up Australia to assist communities in cleaning hidden pockets of garbage in waterways and nature reserves. This weekend’s cleanup will see pilots focus on capturing aerial footage along the Northern Beaches coastline. The gathered image and video will be used to geolocate trash and highlight hotspots on a map for clean up groups to focus their attention on.

“I’m so excited to be working with Clean Up Australia, it’s been a vision of mine since we started the business four years ago,” said Aerologix Founder and CEO, Tom Caska. “Using innovative technology for positive change is one of our mottos and I can’t think of a better application to do that. One of the things that excites us most is using new technology in a new way to help the environment and help clean the planet up.

“I live on the Northern Beaches and am passionate about keeping our community clean.  With our huge network of 10,000+ pilots I’m thrilled to be kicking off the partnership in my own back yard, and helping to bring the community together for a common cause, with a view to expanding for next year’s Clean Up Australia Day,” Caska continued.

Australia produces 2.5 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, amounting to approximately 100 kg per person. Only 13% of that plastic is recovered, with 84% sent to landfill.  As the country continues to contend with its growing waste problem, it becomes increasingly important to support new innovative solutions. Aerial technology enables the retrieval of waste pockets that would otherwise be difficult to locate on foot.

The nation’s largest community-based environmental event, Clean Up Australia has been operating for 33 years. Over 20 million Australians have donated their time to the event since its founding by Ian Kiernan on January 21, 1990.

“This is a really exciting partnership as we know how big a difference technology stands to make in aerial surveillance, especially across such a vast country like Australia,” added Caska.

“We’re excited to be partnering with Aerologix to obtain access to never before seen areas of rubbish from the sky,” said Clean Up Australia CEO Jenny Geddes, “This will give our Clean Up Australia teams the ability to clear problem areas that would otherwise remain out of sight.”

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Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer.