Device could remove 20 billion tonnes of plastic from the
world's oceans. Boyan Slat came up with the idea of a series of floating booms
and processing platforms designed to 'suck' in floating plastic rubbish. The
young engineering student's 'ocean cleanup' concept is designed to be self
sufficient and harness energy from the sun and waves. His invention could even
make money by selling the plastic collected from the oceans, which kills
millions of animals every year. Scroll down to view video.
A Dutch teenager has invented a device that he claims could
clean up some 20 billion tonnes of plastic waste from the world's oceans.
Boyan Slat, 19, came up with the idea of a series of
floating booms and processing platforms designed to collect floating plastic
rubbish.
The 'ocean cleanup' concept is designed to capture the
floating plastic but allow life like fish and plankton to pass through
unharmed, while saving the waste materials to be recycled.
[Left] The design is self-sufficient and
saves energy by being tethered to the sea bed (pictured)
The engineering student believes that once operational, his
device could dramatically reduce the amount of rubbish in the oceans in just
five years time.
Millions of tonnes of plastic debris are littering oceans
and have accumulated in areas of high concentration called gyres - which are
essentially floating rubbish tips.
This litter directly kills millions of aquatic animals
annually but also spreads and introduces harmful algae and invasive species as
well as man-made pollutants into the food chain, costing governments and organisations
millions of dollars to clean up every year, according to Mr Slat.
While he believes humans must end their reliance on disposable plastic items and manage waste responsibly, his innovation could make a big difference to the cleanliness of oceans in the shorter-term.
[Left] Mr Slat believes his invention could make up to $500 million
a year from recycling the waste collected (pictured) making it a potentially
profitable clean-up solution.
He proposes fixing sea water processors to the sea bed,
which are also attached to the floating platform so that the water can move
through them and generate energy.
His concept also includes using floating booms instead of
nets to cover vast areas of water effectively, while no mesh and a very low
speed, means there will be 'virtually no by-catch' and unfortunate animals
getting tangled in nets that are meant to help conserve their habitat.
Writing on his website, Mr Slat said: 'Although this hypothesis still has to be tested, even the planktonic species - due to their density being close to that of the sea water - may move under the booms along with the water flow.'
[Left] The litter in the oceans directly kills millions of aquatic
animals annually (like this bird with a stomach-full of plastic) but also
spreads and introduces harmful algae and invasive species as well as man made
pollutants into the food chain.
In a bid to solve problems of conventional clean-up
measures, including rubbish escaping, emissions and high costs, he said his
contraptions are 'completely self-supportive' and get their energy from the sun
and waves.
'By letting the platforms' wings sway like an actual manta
ray, we can ensure contacts of the inlets with the surface, even in the
roughest weather,' he said.
As well as solving an environmental problem, Mr Slat also
believes his invention could make up to $500 million a year from recycling the
waste collected.
He said: 'This concept is so efficient, that we estimate
that by selling the plastic retrieved from the 5 gyres, we would make in fact
more money than the plan would cost to execute. In other words; it may
potentially be profitable.'
[Left] Millions of tonnes of plastic debris are littering oceans
and have accumulated in areas of high concentration called gyres (pictured by
the circles of arrows) which are essentially floating rubbish tips.
Mr Slat believes that many people need reminding about the
environmental disaster affecting the Earth's oceans.
He said: 'One of the problems with preventive work is that
there isn’t any imagery of these ‘garbage patches’ because the debris is
dispersed over millions of square kilometres.'
'By placing our arrays however, it will accumulate along the
booms, making it suddenly possible to actually visualise the oceanic garbage
patches. We need to stress the importance of recycling, and reducing our
consumption of plastic packaging,' VR-zone reported.
While Mr Slat is now a student at the Delft University of
Technology, he came up with the idea while he as at school to win a number of
prizes and the respect of more experiences marine experts.
He has now set up The Ocean Cleanup Foundation to raise
funds to develop his innovation.
The Ocean Cleanup Array is an anchored network of floating booms and processing platforms will span the radius of a gyre.The booms act as giant funnels where the angle of the booms effectively 'suck' rubbish in.The debris enters the platforms, where it will be filtered out of the water and eventually stored in containers until collected for recycling on land.One of the most significant advantages of using booms instead of nets is that marine life cannot be caught in them.Furthermore, because the transport of plastic along the booms is driven by the currents, it’s slow enough for organisms to escape.
(Source)
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