| Submit your comments on this article |
| Science & Technology |
| Dutch inventor unveils device to scoop plastic out of rivers |
| 2019-10-27 |
| ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) ‐ A young Dutch inventor is widening his effort to clean up floating plastic from the Pacific Ocean by moving into rivers, too, using a new floating device to catch garbage before it reaches the seas. The 25-year-old university dropout Boyan Slat founded The Ocean Cleanup to develop and deploy a system he invented when he was 18 that catches plastic waste floating in the ocean. On Saturday he unveiled the next step in his fight: A floating solar-powered device that he calls the "Interceptor" that scoops plastic out of rivers as it drifts past. "We need to close the tap, which means preventing more plastic from reaching the ocean in the first place," he said, calling rivers "the arteries that carry the trash from land to sea." Slat’s organization has in the past drawn criticism for focusing only on the plastic trash already floating in the world’s oceans. Experts say 9 million tons (8 million metric tons) of plastic waste, including plastic bottles, bags, toys and other items, flows annually into the ocean from beaches, rivers and creeks, endangering marine life in the oceans, including whales . Three of the machines have already been deployed to Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam ‐ and a fourth is heading to the Dominican Republic, he said. Izham Hashim from the government of Selangor state in Malaysia was present at the launch and said he was happy with the machine. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #9 RE: Rob's comment; Mrs. Ret. refuses to use anything in the hotel room dispensed via one of the bulk containers in the shower, for the very reason you state. Me; I don't care cuz a have a good lawyer |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2019-10-27 21:39 |
| #8 Murcek -- we used to do pretty well with cardboard milk boxes. But swapping plastic for glass for items intended for the shower? Stupid. Swapping individual containers for bulk containers in hotels? Asking for a chem or bio incident. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2019-10-27 12:20 |
| #7 ....Glass. It's recyclable. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2019-10-27 11:57 |
| #6 Looks like paper beverage bottles are on the way, those should be easier to recycle and not have the long term polluting effects of plastic. Of course, it will be necessary to see how versatile such packaging is and also to watch for the usual unforecast consequences. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2019-10-27 11:33 |
| #5 Slat’s organization has in the past drawn criticism for focusing only on the plastic trash already floating in the world’s oceans. Unreal, or maybe not - this guy's got a pretty good idea (even if it's 'solar powered') and yet 'has drawn criticism' for it (not you guys; the aforementioned folks). It's just further proof that there are a number of intractable sorts who will bitch, whine and moan about everything under the sun. |
| Posted by: Raj 2019-10-27 10:22 |
| #4 So how much wildlife does this collect as well? |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2019-10-27 09:25 |
| #3 What do they do with the material his device collects? |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2019-10-27 07:00 |
| #2 Why does he hate rubber ducks? |
| Posted by: BrerRabbit 2019-10-27 06:30 |
| #1 How dares he! Burn him at the stake!!! |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2019-10-27 05:22 |