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.

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.

9/4/2015 TheOceanCleanupaimstostripplasticfromthesea

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Asplasticiscaughtinthearray,themotionofthewaterwouldpushitnaturallytowardstheplatform,wherethedebriscanbeextractedandsorted.

"TheOceanCleanupestimatesthecostofremovingonekilogramofplasticat4.53,"saidtheorganisation."Thisis33timescheaperthanconventionaloceancleanupmethods,whilealsobeinganestimated7,900timesfaster."

Relatedstory:SafetyNetbyDanWatson

"AlmosthalfoftheplasticwithintheNorthPacificGyreabout70,000,000kilogramscanberemovedwithin10years,"itadded.

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.

9/4/2015 TheOceanCleanupaimstostripplasticfromthesea

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Hisorganisationnowhasover100volunteers,includingscientistsandengineers,andissupportedby15otherinstitutions.

Acrowdfundingcampaignhasnowbeenlaunchedtopayforthenextphaseoftheproject,whichincludesa"seriesofupscaledtests,oceanographicfieldresearchandindepthengineeringtoeliminateuncertaintiesandoptimisetechnicaldesign."

Slat'sorganisationplanstolaunchafullscalepilotofTheOceanCleanupinthenextthreeyears.

TheOceanCleanupisoneof76projectsshortlistedfortheDesignMuseum'sDesignoftheYear2015awardandiscurrentlypartoftheawardsexhibitionatthemuseum'shomeinShadThames,southLondon.