Dutch inventor unveils device to purge rivers of plastic
A young Dutch inventor
is widening his effort to purge the Pacific Ocean of plastic by turning his focus to rivers, using a solar-powered boat to catch rubbish before it reaches the seas.
Twenty-five-year-old university dropout
Boyan Slat founded The Ocean Cleanup to develop a system that catches plastic waste floating in the ocean.
The next stage is the Interceptor, a vessel which trawls rivers doing the same.
Slat’s organisation
has drawn criticism previously for focusing only on plastic trash already floating in the world’s oceans.
Experts
say 9 million tonnes of plastic – including bottles, bags and toys – flows into the ocean every year from beaches and rivers, endangering marine life.
Three Interceptors
have already been deployed to Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, and a fourth is heading to the Dominican Republic, says Slat.
Euronews
https://www.euronews.com/2019/10/29/watch-dutch-inventor-unveils-device-to-purge-rivers-of-plastic