The 23-year-old Dutch genius said that he could make the ocean self-clean

Boyan Slat is a 23-year-old Dutch inventor and entrepreneur who has been creating engineering projects since the age of two (!). For the first time he truly impressed the world and got into the Guinness Book of Records at the age of 14, when he launched 213 water rockets simultaneously. Now the guy has set himself an even more ambitious and important goal - to clear the ocean of plastic.

Back in 2011, while diving in Greece, Slat discovered that there is more plastic in the water than fish. This sad discovery shocked the Dutchman so much that he decided to devote all his time to trying to get rid of plastic debris in the ocean.

Two years later, he founded The Ocean Cleanup and gave a lecture at TEDx, where he presented his idea of ​​using natural water flows. First, he went to test the system in Japan, and later focused on the Great Pacific Garbage Spot, setting himself the task of removing half of the plastic waste in 5 years.

The Ocean Cleanup is developing technologies to help rid the ocean of plastic. Having collected more than $ 2.2 million in 2014, the organization began large-scale research. They study the Great Pacific Trash Spot to prepare for the full-blown cleansing process in 2020. Using the data, researchers led by Slat developed the technology and decided to launch the first cleaning system in the middle of this year.

That's what they discovered through research.

Using research data, the organization created a passive floating device that collects plastic.

The main work is performed by natural ocean currents, and the device is in free swimming and collects waste.

The anchor keeps the installation at the right level, and also allows you to move slower than plastic.

Then the plastic can be removed and sent ashore for recycling.

Boyan Slat says that they will be able to remove half the plastic in 5 years.

Watch the video: A 22-year-old has raised $30M to fund his idea behind cleaning up plastic in the ocean (April 2024).