This is pretty amazing and is a Godsent to fix a huge problem. He should get a Noble Peace Prize.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?...hQ4&feature=emb_logo
..........................................


Story at-a-glance

Boyan Slat, a young Dutch entrepreneur and his group, The Ocean Cleanup, have invented an ingenious collection barge to clean plastic debris from our oceans
During its test run, the collection barge collected macro and micro plastic debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
In October, The Ocean Cleanup unveiled a solar powered device called the Interceptor to remove plastic waste from rivers
Of the world's 100,000 rivers, 1,000 are responsible for most plastic that reaches the oceans. Interceptors have already been deployed in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Klang, Malaysia
The Interceptor may be the lowest cost way to remove plastic pollution and is especially cost effective in coastal countries where tourism and fisheries industries are prevalent

Boyan Slat, a young Dutch entrepreneur, and his group Ocean Cleanup have invented an ingenious collection barge to clean plastic debris from our oceans. When their barge, called System 001/B, was tested in June 2019 in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch — the first plastic-ridden area Slat planned to tackle — it worked successfully.1

The patch, a trash vortex between the West Coast of North America and Japan,2 is twice the size of Texas.3 During its test run in the Garbage Patch, System 001/B captured visible pieces of plastic debris — sometimes called macroplastics — large ghost nets used with commercial fishing and even microplastics in its haul.4

On the basis of challenges discovered in its test run, The Ocean Cleanup team will begin to design an improved barge to be known as System 002. And, there is more good news about The Ocean Cleanup's efforts, detailed in the video, "Boyan Slat Unveils the Ocean Cleanup Interceptor."

In October, they rolled out an innovative and workable plan to turbocharge plastic cleanup efforts, pun intended.5 The group ascertained that about 80% of ocean plastic pollution comes from the world's rivers and they have developed a plan to target the 1,000 most plastic-polluting rivers with a new invention.6

The device, called the Interceptor, can collect 50,000 kilos (110,231 pounds) of plastic trash every day — equivalent to 1 million soda bottles, according to the featured video — and may collect up to 100,000 kg a day under perfect conditions.7 Two Interceptors have already been deployed — one in Jakarta, Indonesia, and one in Klang, Malaysia.8 Others are in the works.

Which Rivers Need To Be Targeted?

"When it rains, plastic washes from street to creek to river to ocean," Slat points out9 — a fact which seems pretty evident. But how can it be determined which specific rivers are the worst culprits and need to be targeted? After all, there are about 100,000 rivers in the world!

The Ocean Cleanup created a monitoring system that can be attached to a bridge, scanning for plastic that floats by. With the use of artificial intelligence, the system allowed The Ocean Cleanup team to automatically measure how much plastic was flowing out of a river.

Based on that information, they were able to create an interactive global map model, the first of its kind, that ranks rivers on the basis of the amount of plastic pollution in them.

It was soon discovered that a small fraction — only 1 percent — was causing most of the pollution, says Slat in his Interceptor presentation. If 100,000 rivers were contributing to plastic pollution, the cleanup task might be overwhelming. But since a relatively small number of rivers are responsible for most of the pollution, those 1,000 plastic-polluting rivers can be targeted with the new device.10

The Interceptor Is Accepted by Other Countries

Obviously, an ambitious plan to attack plastic river waste on an international scale needs the buy-in from world leaders as well as funding, and The Ocean Cleanup is securing both.

Working with government leaders and private corporations, the team plans to install Interceptors in the 1,000 most-polluted rivers within the next five years.11 Those of us who are concerned about plastic pollution know that time is of the essence.

In addition to the Interceptors already installed in Malaysia and Indonesia, others are planned for the Mekong Delta in Vietnam and Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.12 Thailand has also agreed to situate an Interceptor near Bangkok.

The Ocean Cleanup has not neglected the U.S., which is clearly one of the world's major producers and disposers of plastic. It is currently in talks with officials in Los Angeles county, according to the video report. Though an Interceptor costs approximately $777,000 right now, The Ocean Cleanup predicts that costs will come down as production increases.13

The Challenge of Closing the Plastic Tap

River cleanup is crucial to solving the ocean plastic problem because removing existing plastic in the ocean is not enough, says Slat in the video.14

"To truly rid the oceans of plastic, what we need to do is two things. One, we need to clean up the legacy pollution, the stuff that has been accumulating for decades and doesn't go away by itself. But, two, we need to close the tap, which means preventing more plastic from reaching the oceans in the first place. Rivers are the arteries that carry the trash from land to sea."

The Ocean Cleanup doesn't want to be "the garbage collector of the oceans," says Slat, though it would be a "pretty sustainable business model." Rather, The Ocean Cleanup's goal "is to put ourselves out of business."15

Still, judging by current pollution data, it will be quite a while before The Ocean Cleanup runs out of plastic garbage to collect. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, a mere 9.1% of the plastic material generated in the U.S. municipal solid waste stream was recycled in 2015, and only about 30% of plastic bottles and jars were recycled.16,17 That is why The Ocean Cleanup's campaign is so important and urgent.

How Does the Interceptor Work?

According to the "Boyan Slat Unveils The Ocean Cleanup Interceptor" video, the Intercept system is anchored to the riverbed and makes use of the natural flow of the river to collect plastic debris as it floats by.

Its barrier guides the plastic into the mouth of the Interceptor and a conveyer belt scoops the plastic out of the water. (Slat uses scores of little yellow rubber duckies in the video to demonstrate the system's effectiveness.) To prevent clogging, the belt has been made to be permeable and behind it is a flow channel that creates a suction effect.18

After the plastic has been funneled into the Intercept, the conveyer places the plastic in the "shuttle," a basket on wheels, which distributes the plastic across six dumpsters, sensing which ones are full or empty. Each dumpster can hold 50 cubic meters (1,765 cubic feet) of trash.

When the dumpsters are full, the Interceptor signals through its internet-linked, onboard computer to local operators to bring a boat for towing the full barge so the plastic can be emptied and recycled.19 While the barge is removed from the river for emptying, the shuttle can still collect plastic, says Slat.

The Interceptor's Environmentally Sensitive Features

When you look at the Interceptor's features, it is clear The Ocean Cleanup team has thought through all the potential problems that could come from such a system including its environmental toll.

For example, even though the Interceptor's floating barrier directs garbage into the system, it will usually only span part of the river so it will not interfere with the movement of wildlife and the safe passage of vessels. The Interceptor is able to do this because The Ocean Cleanup discovered through sensors that at certain points in many rivers, "all the plastic is flowing through this very narrow band," says Slat.

This removes the need for the Interceptor to span the whole width of the river.20 Next, the Interceptor is powered by solar panels and onboard lithium-ion batteries that enable it to operate day and night with no human operator, and without noise or exhaust fumes.21

Finally, the nose of the Interceptor has been engineered to deflect large objects like trees that could enter the unit and harm the machinery. And, because the Interceptor is designed like a catamaran sailboat, it has a low center of gravity and is very unlikely to tip over. "It will stay upright no matter what," Slat says.

Is the Interceptor Cost Effective?

The key metric to determine if a plastic cleanup method is practical is the cost per kilogram of plastic collected, says Slat. Because of the Interceptor's effectiveness and the fact that it is a "series produced product," it offers the lowest cost for such removal.

But there is another metric through which the Interceptor's costs should be analyzed, says Slat, and that is the cost to tourism and fisheries in coastal countries of doing nothing about plastic waste.

Countries are "losing money every day" that they do not invest in plastic removal, he says. Dramatic before and after pictures of plastic-polluted and cleaned rivers during his presentation underscore the urgency of tackling plastic waste and the feasibility of deploying the Interceptor.

Plastic pollution take a huge toll on marine life, which often mistake the plastic bits for food. Chemicals used to make plastics disrupt hormones, embryonic development and gene expression, and are linked, in humans, to obesity, heart disease and cancer. It is estimated that humans are now eating, swallowing or breathing in about 2,000 pieces of microplastic a week, equal to the weight of one credit card.22

What Can You Do About Plastic Pollution?

While technology like the Interceptor is an encouraging step forward, each and every one of us has a responsibility and share the burden for putting an end to plastic pollution. Below is a sampling of strategies that can help:

Don't use plastic bags — use reusable bags

Make sure the items you recycle are recyclable (See this list.)

Use reusable shopping bags for groceries

Take your own leftovers container to restaurants

Bring your own mug for coffee, and bring drinking water from home in glass water bottles instead of buying bottled water

Request no plastic wrap on your newspaper and dry cleaning

Store foods in glass containers or mason jars rather than plastic containers and plastic freezer bags

Avoid disposable utensils and straws and buy foods in bulk when you can

Opt for non-disposable razors, washable feminine hygiene products for women, cloth diapers, handkerchiefs instead of paper tissues, rags in lieu of paper towels and infant toys made of wood rather than plastic

Avoid processed foods (which are stored in plastic bags with chemicals). Buy fresh produce instead, and forgo the plastic bags

https://articles.mercola.com/s...043&et_rid=760429468

Pretty cool project; given that the plastic void in the Pacific Ocean isn’t exactly a new occurrence, I’m a little amazed our species hasn’t done something viable to deal with it up to this point. Of course the biggest concern for me is the number of people that just don’t give a shit to the point that they don’t properly dispose of their trash in the first place. You can’t drive down a single well traveled road in America without seeing trash in varying amounts. Cigarette butt tossers are the worst.

A pretty amazing invention. I just hope it sees enough widespread use to really make a difference.

Reading the article, the technology treats the symptoms, not the illness.

“When it rains, plastic washes from street to creek to river to ocean.”

Seem like the solution to plastic pollution would be to put dumpsters on the streets and actually collect and dispose or incinerate the trash, as most civilized societies have figured out.

Yet 1st world countries are banning bags and straws - wokescolded into “action” for a problem thousands of miles away.

How about just intercepting the trash in the rivers? Anyone ever notice all the floating trash backed up at dams and locks? The Monongahela river flows nearby and at times the trash backs up 50' or so. The way The Army Corps of Engineers deals with it is to just release it (at night) to let it float on down to the next lock where it's repeated, presumably down to Pittsburgh and to the Ohio river.
My neighbor at the time Bob was a County Commissioner and took on the problem. The Army Corps of Engineers told him "unfortunately dealing with trash was not in their budget". The problem was Bob had to convince the county to cover the cost of trucking it to the landfill as well as pay the dump fee. The hope was once Monongalia County implemented this, other counties where the river went through would as well so the garbage would no longer accumulate with Monongalia County having the whole burden. Many were against this arguing "the trash isn't ours it floated here from up river so we shouldn't have to pay for removal." But after working for over a year on this Bob finally got the county to fund it.
He excitedly went to the Corps of Engineers with his remedy to the unsightly, disgusting river trash "all you have to do is periodically scoop it out and pile it over there somewhere where we will load it and haul it to the landfill.... all at our expense." They told Bob they would speak with those above and get back, when they did they said after consulting with various agencies "unfortunately this can't be done because we don't know the source of the trash so we have to assume some could be hazardous material." Bob couldn't believe their response he said "so you are knowingly sending hazardous material down river?" They said "no we're not, we just have to assume there *possibly could* be something hazardous therefore the Corp of Engineers nor any of the agencies we went to about this issue can handle this garbage." That was 10 years ago the garbage continues to be released.

Intersting for sure but it does raise a few auestions? I could see this being a pretty good killer of fish and other riverine wildlife. Also, many of the rivers that account for a lot of this plastic pollution are pretty wide. How will they achieve sufficient coverage to make a dent? I'm also curious how often they will have to be emptied.

But its a creative approach to a big problem, so kudos to this guy and his team.

quote:

Of the world's 100,000 rivers, 1,000 are responsible for most plastic that reaches the oceans.

From their research here is a map of the 1,000
rivers that cause the polution.

Note that there is only one problem in North America, the Delaware River.

The rest is in Central America, Africa and Indonesia...

Link to Map

Clearly the problem is a third world issue...

quote:

Originally posted by feersum dreadnaught:
Reading the article, the technology treats the symptoms, not the illness.

“When it rains, plastic washes from street to creek to river to ocean.”

Seem like the solution to plastic pollution would be to put dumpsters on the streets and actually collect and dispose or incinerate the trash, as most civilized societies have figured out.

Yet 1st world countries are banning bags and straws - wokescolded into “action” for a problem thousands of miles away.

Man, really?

Hey, when you can change the behavior of hundreds of millions of people, go for it.

Until then you'll have to settle for solutions like this one. I don't see you doing anything about this besides griping.

quote:

Originally posted by ChicagoSigMan:
Intersting for sure but it does raise a few auestions? I could see this being a pretty good killer of fish and other riverine wildlife. Also, many of the rivers that account for a lot of this plastic pollution are pretty wide. How will they achieve sufficient coverage to make a dent? I'm also curious how often they will have to be emptied.

But its a creative approach to a big problem, so kudos to this guy and his team.

You must not have read the article.

As amazing as that is, to multiply how much it can 'eat' before requiring being emptied -- add a shredder before the plastic is dropped into a container and/or design the container so that it is a compacting tool.
This will add to the containers weight, when full, the vessel will perhaps ride lower in the water (a not complicated ballast problem)
and the hauled-away trash will weigh more. And it will require more energy to operate.
Perhaps this series of working cleaner-uppers is at a delicate balancing point and the next series will have added features.

If the contents of a compressed bin is than tied/wrapped tight, ejected (with a gps attached) overboard and can be scoped up via an attachment on a barge?

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:

quote:

Of the world's 100,000 rivers, 1,000 are responsible for most plastic that reaches the oceans.

From their research here is a map of the 1,000
rivers that cause the polution.

Note that there is only one problem in North America, the Delaware River.

The rest is in Central America, Africa and Indonesia...

Link to Map

Clearly the problem is a third world issue...

Bingo. Just like carbon pollution, we know who the primary culprits are. What is especially annoying to me is that a small minority of third world countries create this problem which has now become the responsibility of the entire world to clean up. I don't have a good solution to that problem, but it is infuriating.

^^^^^ I don't agree with "carbon pollution". CO2 is NOT a pollutant! It is essential in the biosphere for plants to survive--they take it in and give off oxygen (O2) in return. If CO2 is really considered to be a problem (it isn't), the solution is to increase the number and density of green plants.

flashguy

Interesting concept. I hope it succeeds. However there is a lot of floating debris in a large river besides just plastic and the ability to deal with the other debris will determine if it’s feasible. I saw where he said it would deflect larger debris but the proof is in the deployment success...

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
^^^^^ I don't agree with "carbon pollution". CO2 is NOT a pollutant! It is essential in the biosphere for plants to survive--they take it in and give off oxygen (O2) in return. If CO2 is really considered to be a problem (it isn't), the solution is to increase the number and density of green plants.

flashguy

Just using the terminology the leftist, global warning, nitwits use.

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
Interesting concept. I hope it succeeds. However there is a lot of floating debris in a large river besides just plastic and the ability to deal with the other debris will determine if it’s feasible. I saw where he said it would deflect larger debris but the proof is in the deployment success...

Somehow, someway, they're going to have to control, limit, eliminate what goes into the water in the first place. Until then, I think we're likely to be running a lap behind on whatever we do.

Article is clearly written to avoid naming Countries and Rivers such as China and India.

quote:

Originally posted by kimber1911:
Article is clearly written to avoid naming Countries and Rivers such as China and India.

Beats blaming first-world nations for outsourcing "dirty" industries and demanding "we" clean up the mess generated there because they're poor, stupid, and gullible. All this while ignoring that the large-scale malefactors are probably billionaires.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
How about just intercepting the trash in the rivers? Anyone ever notice all the floating trash backed up at dams and locks? The Monongahela river flows nearby and at times the trash backs up 50' or so. The way The Army Corps of Engineers deals with it is to just release it (at night) to let it float on down to the next lock where it's repeated, presumably down to Pittsburgh and to the Ohio river.
My neighbor at the time Bob was a County Commissioner and took on the problem. The Army Corps of Engineers told him "unfortunately dealing with trash was not in their budget". The problem was Bob had to convince the county to cover the cost of trucking it to the landfill as well as pay the dump fee. The hope was once Monongalia County implemented this, other counties where the river went through would as well so the garbage would no longer accumulate with Monongalia County having the whole burden. Many were against this arguing "the trash isn't ours it floated here from up river so we shouldn't have to pay for removal." But after working for over a year on this Bob finally got the county to fund it.
He excitedly went to the Corps of Engineers with his remedy to the unsightly, disgusting river trash "all you have to do is periodically scoop it out and pile it over there somewhere where we will load it and haul it to the landfill.... all at our expense." They told Bob they would speak with those above and get back, when they did they said after consulting with various agencies "unfortunately this can't be done because we don't know the source of the trash so we have to assume some could be hazardous material." Bob couldn't believe their response he said "so you are knowingly sending hazardous material down river?" They said "no we're not, we just have to assume there *possibly could* be something hazardous therefore the Corp of Engineers nor any of the agencies we went to about this issue can handle this garbage." That was 10 years ago the garbage continues to be released.

This is truly the problem...….the long standing joke of one of my customers who lives in Panama City (Panama) of how to find the Pearl Islands, which are 50 miles away is you don't even need to navigate, just follow the endless stream of plastic floating from there.

Education needs to be better. Every third world country in the Carribbean and Central America I've been to (by yacht) has a huge amount of plastic and other garbage that flows out of the rivers right into the ocean, because all of the locals just throw it in the river.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
This is truly the problem...….the long standing joke of one of my customers who lives in Panama City (Panama) of how to find the Pearl Islands, which are 50 miles away is you don't even need to navigate, just follow the endless stream of plastic floating from there.

Education needs to be better.

No, punitive measures need to befall the worst offenders to insure they comply. What those punitive measures might be (Economic sanctions, cutoff of US aid, etc) would have to be determined, but educating what are essentially illiterate populations is fruitless.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
Interesting concept. I hope it succeeds. However there is a lot of floating debris in a large river besides just plastic and the ability to deal with the other debris will determine if it’s feasible. I saw where he said it would deflect larger debris but the proof is in the deployment success...

Somehow, someway, they're going to have to control, limit, eliminate what goes into the water in the first place. Until then, I think we're likely to be running a lap behind on whatever we do.

The vast majority of these polluting countries, don't even have any organized waste and sewage disposal system on land. The wealthy and middle class simply hand-off their garbage to scavengers, believing it helps their livelihood and avoids their own misguided guilt; the trash just gets shoved further down the societal chain until it ends up in shanty towns, tumbling into water systems that lead into the ocean. Japan barges their trash to whatever country wants to paw through it, usually Philippines or, another SE Asian country.

If all the celebrity scolds want to save the planet, get these countries to start disposing of their garbage properly, set-up a trust so that it pays for itself. Im fine with reducing single-use plastics but, people need to start disposing their trash correctly to start.