the ocean cleanup aims to strip plastic from the sea
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9/4/2015 TheOceanCleanupaimstostripplasticfromthesea
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TheOceanCleanupaimstostrip70millionkilosofplasticfromtheseain10years
2April2015|24comments
More: Design Slideshows
A100kilometrearrayoffloatingbarriersdesignedbya20yearoldinventoraimstocleartheoceansofwasteplastic,andisoneoftheprojectsshortlistedforthisyear'sDesignsoftheYearaward(+slideshow).
DutchengineeringstudentBoyanSlatcreatedTheOceanCleanupconceptwiththeaimofclearingtheoceansoftheirplasticgyresfloatingislandsmadeofmillionsofpiecesofwastethataccumulatewherecurrentsconverge.
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9/4/2015 TheOceanCleanupaimstostripplasticfromthesea
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Therearecurrentlyfivemajorgyres,containingmillionsofpiecesofplasticpersquarekilometrethatareconstantlymovinginarotatingformation.Thegyrescontributetotheestimated500millionkilosofplasticwastecurrentlyfloatingintheworld'soceans.
Previousproposalsforremovingthiswastehaveinvolvedusingnetsandbasictrawlingoperations,buthavebeenconsideredtooexpensiveandpossiblydamagingtowildlife.
Slat'sproposedsolutioninvolves100kilometresoffloatingfiltersthatstaystatic,ratherthanbeingpulledthroughthewater,andactasabarriertocollectwaste.
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9/4/2015 TheOceanCleanupaimstostripplasticfromthesea
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"Acleanupofouroceanshasalwaysbeendeemedimpossible,costingbillionsofdollarsandthousandsofyears,"saidastatementfromSlat'sTheOceanCleanuporganisation.
"[Our]solutionisaconcepttopassivelycleantheoceansofplasticinjustseveralyears'time.Theconceptwouldutilisethenaturalcurrentstolettheoceanscleanthemselves,inwhatwouldbecomethelargestcleanupinhistory."
Describedas"thelargeststructureeverdeployedontheoceans",thebarrierswouldbearrangedintwo50kilometrearmsconnectedtoacentralplatform,formingaVshape.
Thesewouldonlyfilterthetopthreemetresofwater,asSlat'sstudiesfoundthatthiswaswherethehighestconcentrationofplasticrubbishcouldbefoundintheworld'soceans.Themaincurrentsrundeeperthanthis,reducingthepotentialfor"bycatch"fishandotheroceanlifethatgetcaughtanddie.
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9/4/2015 TheOceanCleanupaimstostripplasticfromthesea
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Asplasticiscaughtinthearray,themotionofthewaterwouldpushitnaturallytowardstheplatform,wherethedebriscanbeextractedandsorted.
"TheOceanCleanupestimatesthecostofremovingonekilogramofplasticat4.53,"saidtheorganisation."Thisis33timescheaperthanconventionaloceancleanupmethods,whilealsobeinganestimated7,900timesfaster."
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"AlmosthalfoftheplasticwithintheNorthPacificGyreabout70,000,000kilogramscanberemovedwithin10years,"itadded.
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9/4/2015 TheOceanCleanupaimstostripplasticfromthesea
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Theplatformwouldhavea10,000metrecubedcapacity,andwouldbeemptiedeveryoneandahalfmonths.Itsprocessingcapabilitieswouldbepoweredbyenergycollectedusingarigof162solarpanels.
AccordingtoSlat,alargeamountoftheplasticcollectedcouldthenberecycledorturnedintooilproductsusingachemicalprocesscalledpyrolysis.
Slatfirstcameupwiththeideain2011whenhewas16,afteradivingholidayinGreecewherehesawahugeamountofplasticwasteinthewater.Hedevelopedthisintoaschoolproject,whichwasgivenanawardbyDelft'sUniversityofTechnology.
SlatbeganadegreeinaerospaceengineeringatDelftUniversityin2012,butwantedtocontinueworkingonTheOceanCleanup,sosetupafoundationtodeveloptheschemefurther.Sixmonthsintohisdegree,heputhisstudiesonholdtopursuetheprojectfulltime.
In2013atalkthathehadgivenataTEDsatelliteeventwentviral,creatingawaveofpublicinterestthatallowedSlattoraisethefundstolauncharesearchexpeditiontotheNorthAtlanticGyre,followedbyalargescaletestofhisdesignneartheAzoresIslandslastyear.
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9/4/2015 TheOceanCleanupaimstostripplasticfromthesea
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Hisorganisationnowhasover100volunteers,includingscientistsandengineers,andissupportedby15otherinstitutions.
Acrowdfundingcampaignhasnowbeenlaunchedtopayforthenextphaseoftheproject,whichincludesa"seriesofupscaledtests,oceanographicfieldresearchandindepthengineeringtoeliminateuncertaintiesandoptimisetechnicaldesign."
Slat'sorganisationplanstolaunchafullscalepilotofTheOceanCleanupinthenextthreeyears.
TheOceanCleanupisoneof76projectsshortlistedfortheDesignMuseum'sDesignoftheYear2015awardandiscurrentlypartoftheawardsexhibitionatthemuseum'shomeinShadThames,southLondon.