According to The Ocean Cleanup, 80 percent of the plastic found in the ocean originated from rivers. The Ocean Cleanup aims to “close the tap,” so to speak, to prevent plastic waste from the reaching the open sea and it wants to do so with this a vessel called Interceptor.
Touted as the first scalable solution to prevent river plastic from reaching the ocean, Interceptor is capable of collecting up to 100,000 kilograms (over 220,000 lbs) of river trash a day.
The Interceptor features strategically placed barriers in the river that will direct floating river trash to the “mouth” of the vessel while allowing other watercraft to pass.
The mouth of the boat has a conveyor that continuously hauls collect trash to a shuttle which is smart enough to know how to distribute the trash equally among the six dumpsters that are placed a separate barge docked inside the vessel.
Interceptor is solar-powered and the system is fully autonomous.
However, a remote operator can monitor the system from anywhere in the world and when the dumpsters are all filled, the system will automatically alert the local remote operator who will then dispatch a tugboat bring the barge to the shore, the dumpster emptied for recycling, and then returned to the Interceptor to continue its river trash collection.
The Ocean Cleanup said it has identified 1,000 rivers around the world that are contributing to trash in the ocean and it is working with governments around the world to curb this. The Ocean Cleanup aims “close the tap” at these 1,000 rivers in five years time.
Images: The Ocean Cleanup.
Source: YouTube (CNET).
