Innovation
Man Creates Solar-Powered Barge That Picks Up Plastic Before It Even Reaches the Oceans
BY
When he was just 18 years old, Boyan Slat, a Dutch inventor, founded The Ocean Cleanup, a non-profit with the purpose of developing advanced systems to rid the world’s oceans of plastic.
In recent times, the organization is aiming to successfully remove plastic from rivers before it reaches the ocean. By the end of 2025, it aims to clean up 1,000 of the globe’s most polluted rivers that happen to be responsible of 80 percent of the plastic that ends up in the oceans.
According to their website, The Ocean Cleanup was founded back in 2013 in the Netherlands. To help the environment and rid the world’s oceans of plastic debris, the non-profit’s most recent invention, the “Interceptor” is designed to collect the garbage from the source, which happens to be the rivers.
The Interceptor is a fully solar-powered device with onboard lithium-ion batteries, which enable it to operate 24 hours a day without any noise or exhaust fumes. It has been in the works since 2015 and was introduced to the public at a Netherlands event in October 2019.
So how does the Interceptor work? The novel system is designed like a catamaran that moves on the surface of rivers and collects the plastic on a conveyor belt before depositing it into the attached waste containers. When the dumpsters are full and need emptying, it sends out an automatic message to the operators on land, who then bring it to the shore to empty the dumpsters and send off the plastic debris to local waste management facilities.