For years, Boyan Slat has been working on a system to remove plastic from the oceans. The Ocean Cleanup's prototypes that had been developed so far turned out not to work well in practice, but the latest variant, the 001/B no longer releases plastic.
Boyan Slat's The Ocean Cleanup is an organisation developing advanced technologies to clean up plastic in the oceans. However, previous plastic catchers that went out to sea did not quite do their job. For instance, plastic kept drifting away or went over the edge of the safety net. In an online press conference on Tuesday, Slat announced that the latest prototype, System 001/B, does successfully catch and collect plastic. The revamped system was tested for a year. It was found that this time the system makes good use of the natural forces of the ocean to collect the plastic, the same principle Slat applied during his first presentation in October 2012.
Since June, The Ocean Cleanup has been testing from Vancouver in the Pacific Ocean, the place where most plastic is estimated to be located. Besides catching clearly visible pieces of plastic and nets from commercial fishing, the system was also found to have caught pieces of microplastics as small as 1mm. A victory according to the team.
"Having started this mission seven years ago, these latest tests in the merciless environment of the high seas show that our goal is achievable and that pn our mission to rid the ocean of plastic waste is closer than ever," says Slat. "Our team has always had the conviction to overcome all the enormous technical challenges to get to this point. Even though we still have a lot of work to do, I am very grateful for my team's perseverance and look forward to the next phase of development."
New design
The goal of System 001/B was to solve the inconsistent speed difference between the system and the plastic through modifications. This consistency was achieved by slowing down the system by means of a parachute anchor, which allowed the faster-moving plastic waste to drift into the system. After this challenge was solved, it was found that the plastic was accumulating too high. Because of the modularity of System 001 / B, a modification to increase the size of the cork line was designed and implemented while the system was offshore. With the new cork line, minimal overflow is now observed, allowing the system to capture and concentrate plastic.
Despite the early success of System 001/B, there is still work to be done. With the new findings gained from testing oo1/B, The Ocean Cleanup will begin work on its new cleanup system, System 002, a full-fledged cleanup system that can retain waste for longer periods of time. Once the system is operational, The Ocean Cleanup will bring the plastic ashore for recycling.
Source : The Ocean Cleanup.
