The Ocean Cleanup Project hopes to utilize the oceans’ gyres as a means to collect plastic waste
His Ocean Cleanup Project aims to utilize the oceans’ natural gyres to collect plastic waste.
Environmental activism is an easy buzzword, but there are few true movers and shakers who are doing something in the realm of pollution reduction. Boyan Slat, an aerospace engineering student at the Delft University of Technology, is working to combine environmentalism, technology, and his creative outlook to rid our oceans of plastic debris. His Ocean Cleanup Project aims to utilize the oceans’ natural gyres (five circular currents in the oceans around the world – two in the Atlantic, two in the Pacific, and one in the Indian) to collect plastic waste.
Plastic pollution in our oceans weighs in at millions of tons, costs millions of dollars annually, kills hundreds of thousands of aquatic animals, may aid the spread of algae and other invasive species, and acts as transportation for other pollutants such as PCB and DDT. Slat’s Ocean Cleanup concept would use sea water processing stations, fixed to the seabed, to collect plastic waste as the ocean moved around it, due to the gyres.
The stations would have large booms, rather than nets, that would be designed to allow sealife and other items with the proper densities to pass under, while the plastics would be captured. This concept has yet to reach proof-of-concept, but in theory the developers say the process works.
Because the platforms would be stationary, utilizing the currents for capturing waste, they could be highly energy efficient, and ideally, self-supporting through harnessing solar energy or currents. This efficiency combined with the practice of selling the collected plastic could allow this concept to be not just economically neutral, but maybe even profitable. “According to current estimations – due to the plan’s unprecedented efficiency – recycling benefits would significantly outweigh the costs of executing the project,” Slat’s site explains.
Slat and his team are still conducting a feasibility study, but if shown to be scientifically possible, the concept has the potential to rid the world’s oceans of 7,250,000,000 kg of plastic in just five years.
The Latest Bing News on:
Ocean plastic waste
- Plastic Items Dominate Ocean Garbage [Infographic]on June 11, 2021 at 2:34 am
Single-use plastic bags, bottles and food containers account for the highest share of garbage items documented across seven acquatic ecosystems.
- Stop dumping plastic and other forms of waste in the ocean-Dr Afriyieon June 10, 2021 at 7:28 pm
The Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Kwaku Afriyie, says dumping of waste and hazardous chemicals in the ocean ...
- Research on ocean plastic surging, U.N. report findson June 10, 2021 at 3:04 pm
Research about ocean plastic is swelling, too, from just 46 papers in 2011 to 853 in 2019, according to a U.N. report published today on the state of global science. This year’s edition of the report, ...
- Mattel Launches Barbie Collection Made Out of Recycled Plastic to Fight Ocean Pollutionon June 10, 2021 at 1:04 pm
Barbie is getting a makeover to help defeat ocean plastic and fight climate change. American toy company Mattel announced Thursday the arrival of its newest collection “Barbie Loves the Ocean,” which ...
- Barbie has released its first dolls made almost entirely of recycled plastic that was headed for the oceanon June 10, 2021 at 9:56 am
The toy brand launched "Barbie Loves the Ocean" on Thursday, which has three dolls and beach-themed playsets made of 90% recycled plastic.
- Mattel makes a Barbie from recovered ocean-bound plasticon June 10, 2021 at 7:03 am
Barbie line made from recycled ocean-bound plastic. Called Barbie Loves the Ocean, the collection is part of the manufacturer’s goal to achie ...
- Ad of the Day: Barbie dolls made of ocean plastic waste to inspire kids to go greenon June 10, 2021 at 4:40 am
Hoping to engage children in supporting a green future, Barbie brand owner Mattel has given the toy a sustainable makeover with the introduction of a collection of three dolls made from 90% recycled ...
- These new Barbies are made from ocean-bound plasticon June 9, 2021 at 9:01 pm
Mattel is launching a new line of Barbies made from plastic that would otherwise become ocean waste.The "Barbie Loves the Ocean" collection, which has a summer theme, comes with three dolls, a beach ...
- Humanity’s fast-food habit is filling the ocean with plasticon June 9, 2021 at 5:00 pm
Takeaway food and beverage packaging is the main source of plastic litter accumulating along many coasts. Around 8 million metric tons of plastic waste ended up in the ocean in 2010. Using data from ...
- National Oceans Day And ‘The Plastic Pandemic.’ What Will You Do?on June 9, 2021 at 3:17 pm
The Plastic Pandemic” - Every year between 4.8 and 12.7 million tons of plastic pieces end up dumped into oceans across the globe and covid only exacerbated it. “One garbage truck of plastic is ...
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Ocean plastic waste
The Latest Bing News on:
Plastic pollution in our oceans
- Research on ocean plastic surging, U.N. report findson June 10, 2021 at 3:04 pm
Research about ocean plastic is swelling, too, from just 46 papers in 2011 to 853 in 2019, according to a U.N. report published today on the state of global science. This year’s edition of the report, ...
- Solutions for fighting pollution in the oceanson June 10, 2021 at 1:38 pm
Maritime litter is among the most urgent global pollution issues. Marine scientist have published an overview study of solutions for prevention, monitoring, and removal. They found that reducing ocean ...
- Mattel Launches Barbie Collection Made Out of Recycled Plastic to Fight Ocean Pollutionon June 10, 2021 at 1:04 pm
Barbie is getting a makeover to help defeat ocean plastic and fight climate change. American toy company Mattel announced Thursday the arrival of its newest collection “Barbie Loves the Ocean,” which ...
- Combating maritime litter: Innovative solutions for fighting pollution in the oceanson June 10, 2021 at 11:16 am
Plastic bottles drifting in the sea; bags in the stomachs of turtles; COVID-19 masks dancing in the surf: Few images are as unpleasant to look at as those that show the contamination of our oceans.
- It's Time for Global Action to Eliminate Plastic Pollutionon June 10, 2021 at 6:00 am
On June 10, a group of 16 leading organizations—representing businesses, NGOs, and civil society—highlighted the need for urgent global action to halt the rapid growth of plastic pollution and create ...
- For decades, scientists puzzled over the plastic 'missing' from our oceans but now it's been foundon June 10, 2021 at 4:13 am
You've probably heard that our oceans have become a plastic soup. But in fact, of all the plastic that enters Earth's oceans each year, just 1% has been observed floating on the surface . So where is ...
- These new Barbies are made from ocean-bound plasticon June 9, 2021 at 9:01 pm
Mattel is launching a new line of Barbies made from plastic that would otherwise become ocean waste.The "Barbie Loves the Ocean" collection, which has a summer theme, comes with three dolls, a beach ...
- New tool highlights the world's ocean pollution problemon June 9, 2021 at 12:32 pm
We know pollution is a problem, and we know waste ends up in our waterways. But it's hard to quantify exactly how much waste and where it's coming from. A new data tool tries to make sense of it.
- The Real Sources of Ocean Pollutionon June 9, 2021 at 11:50 am
On World Ocean Day, it's incredible to think that more than 80 percent of the ocean remains unexplored by man.
- Clean Seas Campaign promotes the right to a healthy environment, including plastic-free oceanson June 9, 2021 at 5:02 am
UNEP is reinvigorating the Clean Seas Campaign to encourage countries, businesses and the public to take a human rights-based approach to tackle marine plastic pollution.
