Micro-plastic Collecting Device for Outboard Motors

First of all, can I just say that we don’t deserve this beautiful planet. We do deserve this planet, then why are there 150,000,000 tons of marine plastic waste in the ocean today? According to a report, around 8,000,000 tons of plastic flow into the ocean every single year. To put things in perspective, that’s equivalent to over 40 Boeing 747-400 passenger jets. Seriously, this got to stop.

Micro-plastic Collecting Device for Outboard Motors

But we all know that’s not going to happen. However, Suzuki Motor Corporation, specifically its Marine division, has came up with a brilliant solution that will allow boat users to help clean up the micro-plastic waste from the ocean.

Meet the world’s first micro-plastic collecting device for outboard motors. This add-on for outboard motors is designed to tackle micro-plastics that have been broken down and remains in the ocean.

Micro-plastic Collecting Device for Outboard Motors

The micro-plastic collecting device leverages on the cooling system of an outboard motor, which draws seawater to cool the engine and returning the water back to the ocean.

This ingenious device replaces the stock return hose and will not affect the engine performance. By replacing the stock return hose with one that has one equipped with a removable filter, seawater is filtered before returning back to the nature. In this way, it helps to capture micro-plastics.

Micro-plastic Collecting Device for Outboard Motors

The system includes an overflow hose that allows water to continue to pass in the event that filter clogged due to the micro debris. Anyhoo… during a monitoring research in Japan, Suzuki observed that a substantial amount of micro-plastic waste was found within the debris collected in the filter.

NOW READ  GyroGlove Gyroscope Hand-stabilizing Glove Will Instantly Reduce Hand Tremors

Research is still on-going within Japan and internationally. Suzuki aims to introduce the device as an optional add-on to the outboard motor starting in 2021 and subsequently, incorporating it as a standard feature in future.

Micro-plastic Collecting Device for Outboard Motors

The amount of micro debris collected maybe insignificant compared to what existed in the ocean, but it is better than not doing anything at all. In fact, every ship should have similar contraption even if the ships do not draw water from the sea.

Images: Suzuki Motor Corporation [UK].