New Ocean Waste Removal Technology Makes Bold Promises

Dutch entrepreneur Boyan Slat has developed technology designed to clean up plastic from the ocean.

Improperly disposed of plastic will often end up in the world’s oceans. The dumping of plastic has formed accumulation zones of waste products, the largest being the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP). It is located roughly halfway between California and Hawaii and covers an estimated area of 1.6 million kilometers, according to The Ocean Cleanup, Slat’s organization. To put that in perspective, that is twice the size of the state of Texas.

Plastics enter the ocean in many ways. Whether that be through littering, dumping, or plastic blowing away from landfills, the waste ends up in rivers that flow into the ocean. It is estimated that humans produce 1.15 to 2.14 million tonnes (metric tons) of plastic waste each year that ends up in our river systems, according to The Ocean Cleanup’s website.

From that point, the waste enters a complex system of ocean currents called an ocean gyre. An ocean gyre is an amalgamation of many oceanic currents that range from large to small and circulate throughout the world’s oceans. When plastic waste enters the river system, more than half will be less dense than water and will subsequently flow on the surface and be carried out to sea. Once out at sea, the plastic enters these gyres and travels great distances before being cast out of the current system, where the waste then forms patches like the GPGP.

These garbage accumulation zones also have a significant impact on the environment. There is currently upwards of 269,000 tons of waste in the world’s oceans as of 2014, according to a Public Library of Science One (PLOS One) publication. That plastic can do serious harm to the local fauna. Bigger pieces will trap and suffocate them, but a larger issue is when these plastics start to degrade from exposure, breaking up into tiny pieces. 

Fish and other small marine life will eat these tiny pieces but are unable to digest the plastic nor remove it from their system. Instead, the plastic takes up space in the stomach, preventing the digestion of other food and leading to starvation. As larger animals eat smaller ones, this issue only compounds going up the food chain.

While plastic may not be the only problem ailing the oceans, it’s still a major issue. “Plastics, by themselves, aren’t necessarily a huge problem but added on top of all these other problems they can make a significant difference in the state of the ocean ecology so if we could solve that one it would help,” said Katy Shaw, the Oceanology professor here at Green River.

So, what do we do? How do we clean it up? Well, Dutch entrepreneur Boyan Slat has developed a system to do just that. The system is essentially a long one to two-kilometer U-shaped tube with an impermeable screen attached. The screen extends 600 feet below the water’s surface, where it is attached to an anchor.

The screen and the tube work in tandem to scoop up and concentrate the plastic. While the anchor acts as a way to control the speed of the technology so the proper cleanup is achieved. The anchor is also equipped with ballasts, so the depth can be adjusted to match the various conditions the system may encounter.

The entire system is also environmentally friendly. The tube is made out of polyethylene which is a durable recyclable material.  The screen is impermeable, which is helpful because unlike most nets, fish cannot get caught in it and will be able to use currents to swim around the screen.

The project wishes to do decades of work in just a few years. Their short-term goal is to have 50 percent of the GPGP cleaned up within five years. They would like to have all patches cleaned up by 2050. The work will be far from over though, even if they achieve total clean up within 10 years. There are currently five large patches that exist in the world, but cleaning up the largest of the bunch is certainly not a bad place to start.

That is a big ‘if’ though, as estimates for conventional cleanup methods have been predicted to take decades. That is understandable due to the sheer size of the patch. Three times the size of France is not a small area, which makes this quite the daunting task. “I’d have to see their math,” Shaw said, “I am a little bit doubtful that it could be done that quickly.” We’ll have to wait and see.

After the plastic is collected, the masterminds behind the project have come up with a great solution to make sure that it does not end up right back where they found it. Not only that but they intend to turn it into profit to fund the project. All waste collected from the technology will be gathered by a few support vessels. After collection, the waste will be brought back to land for processing and recycling. They intend to use the recycled plastic in high-quality products that will be sold to fund the project.   

The technology is currently undergoing its test run. A small 120-meter portion of the system has been launched 50 nautical miles off the coast of San Francisco. This test is extremely important as it will give the developers a real-life example of how the technology will behave in the water. The small section that is being tested will be tugged by a boat on an elaborate course to ensure as realistic a test as possible. After the test, the section will be added to the larger 600-meter system and the project will officially begin.  

This technology, while innovative, is merely a stopgap for a larger issue. This is not a single country issue as many nations all over the world have contributed to the patches. If people truly want to see a change in this issue, they need to realize that they only way to correct the pollution problem is to recycle properly. That is the only way to keep the environment clean. Until then, the environment will have to rely on technology and creative people to help it.