The UAE’s first water-based waste collecting drone will start picking up trash at Dubai Harbour as part of green innovation efforts at the waterfront destination.

The PixieDrone, produced by French company Searial Cleaners, will use its onboard camera, remote sensing and light detection and radar (LIDAR) technology to pick up and sort waste at the Dubai Harbour, which includes hundreds of yacht berths and is located close to the base of Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah.

The advanced technology can sort waste into organic, plastics, glass, metal, paper, cloth, rubber and other categories before storing it on board.

The floating drone has 160 litre capacity and can operate for up to six hours, Dubai Harbour Marina said.

(Writing by Imogen Lillywhite; editing by Seban Scaria)

(imogen.lillywhite@lseg.com)