A device designed to remove vast quantities of plastic waste from the world’s oceans is working for the first time its inventor has said. Today, we announced that System 001/B is successfully capturing and collecting plastic debris. After one year of testing.
source/image: theoceancleanup
We have succeeded in developing a self-contained system in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch that is using the natural forces of the ocean to passively catch and concentrate plastic, thereby confirming the most important principle behind the cleanup concept that was first presented by Boyan Slat at a TEDx conference in October 2012.// video by: FRANCE 24 English
The System 001/B vessel that was launched from Vancouver in June is The Ocean Cleanup’s second attempt at proving that it is a feasible option. Apart from collecting the visible plastic debris, System 001/B was also able to pick up microplastics as small as 1 mm.
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Once fully operational, The Ocean Cleanup will return plastic to land for recycling. The timing of that phase of the mission is contingent upon further testing and design iteration./theoceancleanup
