Ocean Cleaning Device Successfully Collects Plastic For The First Time

Oct 28, 2019 by apost team

Plastic pollution is destroying our planet. Recycling helps a bit but nowhere near the amount we need. Plastic clogs our oceans and waterways. It destroys wildlife. There's so much of it that the North Pacific Ocean has what's called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

The Great Pacific Garbage patch is a collection of debris in the Pacific Ocean. Most of this trash is plastic because plastic doesn't fully break down. Instead, it breaks down into microplastics -- pieces of plastic that are so small they can't be seen by the human eye. The patch is so huge that it's bigger than Texas!

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A group of scientists from the Netherlands has come up with a possible solution. They work for a nonprofit group called Ocean Cleanup. For years, they've been working on a device to lessen the plastic waste clogging the ocean. There was a recent breakthrough with this device. It managed to capture debris like crates, old fishing gear, cartons, and even microplastic.

The microplastic that it managed to catch was a tiny one millimeter. This is a huge leap. Most of the time, microplastic debris sinks rather than staying on the surface of the ocean. This makes it more difficult to catch and remove from the water. The inventor of the device, Boyan Slat, wrote on social media, "Our ocean cleanup system is now finally catching plastic, from one-ton ghost nets to tiny microplastics!"

The device works by combining a barrier with a net. The net catches debris while still allowing marine wildlife to pass by without harm. It then holds the pollution in place until someone collects it and takes it to a center for recycling.

Previous versions of the device were flawed. For example, one version caught the plastic but couldn't contain it. It was also being pushed faster by ocean currents than the debris it was trying to pick up.

Scientists fixed the problem by attaching a parachute anchor to it. This makes it possible for the net to catch the plastic that it couldn't before. They fixed the problem of plastic escaping by changing the corkline on it. Before, the pollution was floating over it. The repair reduced the amount of plastic able to float over.

The team isn't finished with the device. They plan to tweak things so that it will be able to withstand rough water for longer periods of time.

What do you think about this possible solution to the plastic problem? Do you think it's enough, or should we be thinking even bigger?