A massive net is being deployed to pick up plastic in the Pacific
Critics are skeptical the project will do much good
By
Carolyn Gramling
5:36pm, September 7, 2018
The days of the great Pacific garbage patch may be numbered.
A highly anticipated project to scoop up plastic from the massive pool of ocean debris is poised to launch its first phase from Alameda, Calif., on September 8. The creators of the project, called the Ocean Cleanup, say their system can remove 90 percent of the plastic in the patch by 2040.
First proposed in a 2012 TED talk by Dutch-born inventor Boyan Slat, who was then just 18 years old, the Ocean Cleanup’s system consists of a snaking line of booms designed to simulate a kind of free-floating coastline that can essentially herd the plastic trash into retrievable piles. The project, based in Delft, the Netherlands, has drawn more than $30 million in donations from sponsors, philanthropists and a crowdfunding campaign.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/massive-net-being-deployed-pick-plastic-pacific
