While testing a new technology developed to eliminate a large garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean, 29 tons of plastic waste were collected from the Pacific Ocean.
A non-profit organization called Ocean Cleanup has been working on the mission for several weeks. Boyan Slat, who led the project, said the successful test proves that the technology works, and the oceans can be cleaned of trash.
In a Twitter message about the project’s success, he emphasized that collecting 29 tons of trash shows that over time, even a large Pacific waste area can be eliminated.
An experimental system called System 002 was launched in July off the west coast of Canada to begin collecting waste from the large garbage island in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and California.
Photo: Michel Porro / Getty Images Hungary
Scientists estimate that the Garbage Island is made up of more than 1.8 billion pieces of plastic weighing about 80,000 tons. Ocean currents washed away the garbage island.
System 002 consists of two boats slowly towing a net of 800 meters three meters into the sea through areas soaked in plastic. Waste collected in the network is collected from time to time, sorted and taken to the beach where it is recycled.
The device, nicknamed Jenny, is set to hit the road again Thursday. In the meantime, System 003 is already being built, which is three times larger than it is now, and thus the efficiency and performance of operations can be increased.
With the combination, they want to halve the amount of waste in the Pacific Ocean every five years.
(MTI)
