Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Dutch Inventor Says His Ocean Cleaning Boom Is Working
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
October 2, 2019

Share

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — After a series of setbacks, a system for catching plastic floating in the Pacific between California and Hawaii is now working, its Dutch inventor said Wednesday.
Boyan Slat, a university dropout who founded The Ocean Cleanup nonprofit, announced that the floating boom is skimming up waste ranging in size from a discarded net and a car wheel complete with tire to chips of plastic measuring just 1 millimeter.

“If the journey to this point taught us anything it is that it’s definitely not going to be easy.” Boyan Slat, a university dropout who founded The Ocean Cleanup nonprofit
The results are promising enough to begin designing a second system to send to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an area of floating plastic trash twice the size of Texas, Slat said.
But he sounded a note of caution, saying “if the journey to this point taught us anything it is that it’s definitely not going to be easy.”
The floating boom with a tapered 10-foot-deep screen is intended to act like a coastline, trapping some of the 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic that scientists estimate are swirling in the patch while allowing marine life to safely swim beneath it.
After it was towed out to sea last year, the barrier did not catch any trash in its first weeks of operation because it was moving at the same speed as the plastic. That problem was overcome by using an underwater parachute anchor to slow the boom so it catches quicker moving trash.
Also, late last year, the barrier broke under the constant pummeling by wind and waves in the Pacific, requiring four months of repairs before being relaunched from Vancouver in June.
Photo of crew members sorting through plastic on board a support vessel
In this undated handout photo provided by The Ocean Clean Up, crew members sort through plastic on board a support vessel on the Pacific Ocean. A Dutch inventor says that after a series of setbacks his system for catching plastic floating in the Pacific between California and Hawaii is now working. Boyan Slat, a university dropout who founded The Ocean Cleanup nonprofit, announced Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019 that the floating boom is skimming up waste ranging in size from a discarded net and a car wheel complete with tire to chips of plastic measuring just 1 millimeter. (The Ocean Cleanup via AP)

The Next Move Is to Scale up the Device and Make It Stronger

The system also experienced a problem with “overtopping” _ waves that pushed the plastic over the line of floating corks that hold the screen. That was solved by using a line of larger corks to corral the plastic.
The organization wants to continue developing the plastic traps, scale them up and deploy more to the Pacific so they can gather thousands of tons of plastic each year. However, Slat did not say when the second version would be ready for launch.
Slat’s organization is one of a handful of groups working to collect trash from the open oceans.
There is more than enough to keep them busy.
It is estimated that between 600,000 and 800,000 metric tons of fishing gear is abandoned or lost during storms each year in the oceans, according to the Trash Free Seas Program at Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group.
Another 9 million tons of plastic waste, including plastic bottles, bags, toys and other items, flow annually into the ocean from beaches, rivers and creeks, according to experts.
Slat said the next move is to scale up the device and make it stronger, so it can stay at sea for longer and hold onto all the plastic it collects for a year or more before a ship collects the trash.
Summarizing, he said: “There’s a lot of work still ahead of us.”
[activecampaign form=29]

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Tulare Man Sentenced to State Prison for DUI Crash That Injured Two Women

DON'T MISS

Judge Partly Blocks Trump Order Seeking to Overhaul US Elections

DON'T MISS

Two From Search Group That Uncovered Mexico’s ‘Ranch of Horror’ Killed

DON'T MISS

US Warns States They Could Lose Transportation Funding Over Immigration, DEI Policies

DON'T MISS

Don’t Miss Out! Tower District’s Porchfest Festival Is Saturday

DON'T MISS

Shooter in 2022 Chicago-Area Parade Massacre Sentenced to Life in Prison

DON'T MISS

Fresno Stabbing Leaves Son Dead, Father Charged With Murder

DON'T MISS

Trump Asks Supreme Court to Reinstate Transgender Military Ban, for Now

DON'T MISS

California Judge Blocks Trump’s Bid to Cut Funds to ‘Sanctuary’ Cities

DON'T MISS

Town Hall on Trump’s First 100 Days Will Air Next Week

UP NEXT

Chicago Bears Great Steve McMichael Dies at 67 After Battle With ALS

UP NEXT

Long Wait Is Over for Cam Ward, Travis Hunter and Other Draft Prospects Joining the NFL

UP NEXT

Golden State’s Jimmy Butler Injured in Game 2 Loss, His Status for Game 3 Unknown

UP NEXT

Jalen Green Makes Eight 3s to Help Rockets Even Series With Warriors

UP NEXT

Israeli Fire Kills at Least 44 People in Gaza, Hits a Police Station

UP NEXT

Trump Tells Putin to ‘STOP’ After Russian Attacks Kills 10 in Kyiv

UP NEXT

US Justice Department Directs Investigations Over Gender-Affirming Care

UP NEXT

Earthquake of Magnitude 6.02 Strikes Turkey, GFZ Says

UP NEXT

US Justice Department Cancels Hundreds of Grants for Police, Crime Victims

UP NEXT

Yelich’s 5th Career Slam and Bauers’ 2-Run Homer Power the Brewers to Win Over the Giants

US Warns States They Could Lose Transportation Funding Over Immigration, DEI Policies

1 hour ago

Don’t Miss Out! Tower District’s Porchfest Festival Is Saturday

1 hour ago

Shooter in 2022 Chicago-Area Parade Massacre Sentenced to Life in Prison

2 hours ago

Fresno Stabbing Leaves Son Dead, Father Charged With Murder

2 hours ago

Trump Asks Supreme Court to Reinstate Transgender Military Ban, for Now

2 hours ago

California Judge Blocks Trump’s Bid to Cut Funds to ‘Sanctuary’ Cities

2 hours ago

Town Hall on Trump’s First 100 Days Will Air Next Week

2 hours ago

Kristi Noem’s Handbag Was Snatched From Beneath Her Chair, DHS Says

3 hours ago

Interior Department to Fast-Track Oil, Gas and Mining Projects

3 hours ago

Survey: Californians Blame Utility Company Spending, Profits for High Electricity Rates

3 hours ago

Tulare Man Sentenced to State Prison for DUI Crash That Injured Two Women

A Tulare man was sentenced Wednesday to four years and four months in state prison for a high-speed DUI crash that seriously injured two wom...

32 minutes ago

Maxwell Barrios, 28, of Tulare, was sentenced to over four years in state prison on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, for a 2023 DUI crash that seriously injured two women, including one who required a partial arm amputation. (Tulare County DA)
32 minutes ago

Tulare Man Sentenced to State Prison for DUI Crash That Injured Two Women

People vote in the 2024 U.S. presidential election on Election Day in Columbus, Ohio, U.S., November 5, 2024. (REUTERS/Megan Jelinger/File Photo)
50 minutes ago

Judge Partly Blocks Trump Order Seeking to Overhaul US Elections

Forensic technicians stand at a cordoned area during a media tour by Jalisco's Attorney General Office at Izaguirre Ranch, which activists have called a cartel-run "extermination camp," in Teuchitlan, Jalisco state, Mexico March 20, 2025. (REUTERS/Ivan Arias/File Photo)
1 hour ago

Two From Search Group That Uncovered Mexico’s ‘Ranch of Horror’ Killed

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy speaks to reporters about Wednesday's deadly midair collision between a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and American Eagle flight 5342 near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 30, 2025. (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo)
1 hour ago

US Warns States They Could Lose Transportation Funding Over Immigration, DEI Policies

1 hour ago

Don’t Miss Out! Tower District’s Porchfest Festival Is Saturday

Robert E. Crimo III. arrives for his trial in Judge Victoria A. Rossetti’s courtroom in Waukegan, Illinois, U.S., March 3, 2025. (Nam Y. Huh/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo)
2 hours ago

Shooter in 2022 Chicago-Area Parade Massacre Sentenced to Life in Prison

Bryan Blackman (right), 52, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of murder after admitting to fatally stabbing his son, Javoeea Blackman, 25, during a disturbance outside a Fresno apartment on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (Fresno PD)
2 hours ago

Fresno Stabbing Leaves Son Dead, Father Charged With Murder

2 hours ago

Trump Asks Supreme Court to Reinstate Transgender Military Ban, for Now

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend