“The Ocean Clean Up”: efficient plastic reduction in the world’s oceans
“90 percent less plastic waste in the world’s oceans by 2040“, this is the ambitious goal of the Dutch-born Boyan Slat and his team within the framework of the greatest ocean cleaning project named “The Ocean Clean Up“. Thanks to a sophisticated collection system, developed with the help of ultra-modern technologies, not only free-swimming waste is collected from the oceans but also directly at the source of the problem, namely at the mouths of the rivers into the sea.
Plastic Hot-Spot: “Great Pacific Garbage Patch“
The largest clump of waste floating in the water on our planet can be found between Hawaii and California and is known as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch“. This gigantic collection of plastic covers an estimated area of 1.6 million square kilometers, which corresponds to three times the size of France(!). “Plastic carpets“ of this kind can unfortunately be observed with increasing frequency in the oceans and they are growing with alarming alacrity.
“The arteries through which the plastic flows“
Research from “The Ocean Clean Up” has revealed that around 1,000 rivers around the world, are responsible for 80 percent of the plastic in our oceans and thus they play a major role in the spread of collections of plastic waste.
Conventional, traditional cleaning methods, such as collection ships or nets would require many decades and high amounts of money, amounting to billions, to remove these enormous amounts of waste.
“The Ocean Clean Up“ shows that things do not have to be this way!
“The Ocean Clean Up“
“The cleaning of the world’s oceans“ is the uppermost goal pursued by “The Ocean Clean Up“. The NGO is thus promoting the general reduction of plastic in the oceans and has thought of something special when it comes to the prevention of plastic waste. Within the framework of the project, two collection systems were developed. Both are perfect for use on the open sea and in waters close to the coast, and draw the energy required 100 percent from solar energy.
The collection system to clean the carpets of plastic at high sea, comprises a floating body 600 meters long, a collection net three meters long and a sea anchor. The natural peculiarities of the maritime environment are also made use of to help with cleaning: thanks to the combination of wind, waves, currents and the sea-anchor, air resistance is generated, which ensures that the system moves slowly but continuously towards the plastic. The cleaning system navigates its way autonomously through the waste for longer periods of time, while the waste is collected in the net. As soon as the net is full, the waste is brought to land by a ship where the plastic is then sorted, prepared, and recycled.
Similarly, for the “Interceptor“, the system for the prevention of plastic waste in rivers and other inland waters: river waste which flows with the current, is led to the opening of the “Interceptor“ by means of barriers. When it gets there, the waste is fed into large plastic containers, located on floating platforms, with the help of a conveyor belt. Sensors make sure that all the containers are equally filled with waste. The “Interceptor“ can store up to 50m³ of waste before it must be emptied. When the containers are full, a text message is automatically sent to the local operators, who collect the waste container, empty it, and bring it back to the “Interceptor“ for the further collection of waste. Back on land, the collected waste is taken to the local waste collection stations where it is sorted, recycled and in part further processed.
Some of the plastic collected is recovered by the organization and processed to sunglasses. This accessory is developed in cooperation with the designer, Yves Bèhar, and can be ordered through the organization’s website. The proceeds are reinvested 100 percent back into the project to promote the cleaning of the oceans.
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