Young Dutch Inventor working towards removing 90% of the total global ocean plastic waste before 2040
Bryan Slat, a young Dutch inventor, strongly believes that the plastic waste dumped in the ocean across the world would be reduced within the decade and a half for an amount less than $1bn. Slat founded a nonprofit organisation named The Ocean Cleanup.
The primary motive of his startup is to deploy technology built to stop waste before it gets to the sea. The good news is that The Ocean Cleanup is already using these advanced technologies to stop some waste from reaching the open sea.
The organisation focuses more on rivers that carry the most plastic into the ocean. They built floating barriers to trap debris as it flows through the river. The Ocean Cleanup also has autonomous interceptor boats, which come with conveyor belts to trap the plastic waste and send it for either recycling or disposal. The organisation already has the systems in active operation in several rivers across India, the Philippines, Indonesia, the Caribbean, and Colombia.
Slat reveals that if his organisation could implement their technologies in different rivers across 30 cities, they could stop a third of plastic currently making its way into the ocean. He also suggests that the Motagua River, located in Guatemala, drives more plastic into the sea than the entire 38 members of the OECD. In his words, “That one river is about 2% of global plastic emissions.”
What’s next for Slat and The Ocean Cleanup?
Slat and his team are hoping to reach a greater milestone before 2030. He revealed that the program would cost about $350 million. Their organisation’s long-term goal focuses on stopping about 90% of the floating plastic waste from moving into the sea by 2040.
They are also working on clearing the existing massive deposit of plastic from existing accumulation zones like the Great Pacific garbage patch. Slat, a 31-year-old entrepreneur, abandoned his aerospace studies to focus more on this great idea more than 10 years ago. Since he founded this organisation, they have removed about 40 kilograms of plastic waste from rivers and oceans globally. We expect to see them do more soon. What do you think about the future of Earth without any plastic waste floating in our oceans?
