A much-concerned but controversial work is finally going to be a sea trial. It is collecting and transporting plastic waste in the ocean. Recently, a large tugboat was dragged by the non-profit organization 'Ocean Cleanup' in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. A tortuous floating gate that sails away from the San Francisco Bay. The unit is designed to recycle plastic waste floating on the surface of the sea. It will be tested for about two weeks off the coast for about two weeks. If it goes well, it will be dragged to the distance. 2,200 km of floating garbage in California. Although the original design was to build a garbage collector with a span of 200 km, the modified design required many small garbage collectors with a diameter of 1 km. The current system was further reduced to 600. Mi Chang. The 'Marine Cleanup' organization hopes to complete the first recycling work within 6 months, transport the waste back to the coast, and convert it into promotional items to offset the cost. However, as Science magazine in 2017 As reported on May 11, commentators were skeptical about the project, and some felt that although the project had a good intention, it was misled.
This is undoubtedly an ambitious vision. The 22-year-old Boyan Slat is a fascinating half-way dropout inventor who plans to set up a floating garbage collection team to clean up the plastic waste circulating in the North Pacific circulation. The ocean current will float plastic. The rubbish is pushed into the curved floating gates, which transport the rubbish to a central tank and then collect it by the vessel every month. 'We let the plastic come to us.' He said. The team hopes to eventually recycle the plastic, It is sold as a branded product or raw material to fund operations. Slat now has a pair of sunglasses made from recycled Pacific plastic.
But those who are skeptical think that this idea doesn't make much sense. It is more cost-effective to recycle garbage near the coast. 'In the eyes of most people in the scientific community, it is a waste of effort to focus on circulating garbage. Jan van Franeker, a marine biologist at the Herningen Marine Research Center, said, 'Things that disappear 10 to 20 years later require a lot of money.' His studies of seabirds show a reduction in the amount of industrial plastics entering the North Sea. After 20 years, seabirds' plastic intake has dropped by 75%. Critics are also worried that this high-tech clean-up project may distract people from reducing the use of plastics.