Device to trap plastic waste in the Pacific Ocean is working, organisers say

8 Oct 2019

Device to trap plastic waste in the Pacific Ocean is working, organisers say

Device to trap plastic waste in the Pacific Ocean is working, organisers sayA while ago, we had read about inventor Boyan Slat's device to trap plastic in the ocean.

Now, Ocean Cleanup, Boyan Slat's organisation which launched the device, has announced that the device is working properly.

They say that the device is able to capture and hold different sizes of rubbish, from large old fishing nets to tiny microplastics as small as 1 millimetre.
 	The device is a U-shaped barrier with a 'skirt' that hangs below the surface of the water.
 	It moves with the ocean current and collects plastics as they float by.
 	Fish and other animals are able to swim beneath it.
 	They have deployed it in "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch". This is a large garbage pile located between Hawaii and California that's about three times the size of France.
 	Ocean Cleanup plans to build more of this device. They hope to reduce the size of the garbage pile by half every five years.

Although they faced problems when the device initially launched, they continued to work on it. Now that it works, they plan to see how they can improve it so that the device can be strong enough to remain in the ocean for years.

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A while ago, we had read about inventor Boyan Slat’s device to trap plastic in the ocean. Now, Ocean Cleanup, Boyan Slat’s organisation which launched […]

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