A new ocean cleaning ship has removed 20,000 lbs of plastic pollution from the ocean on its trial run, leading the inventor to announce that the world's oceans can now be cleared of deadly plastic contamination. The new ship is so efficient that some are speculating that the entire ocean could be cleaned within 20 years.
The Ocean Cleanup 'System 002' invented by Dutch entrepreneur Boyan Slat ran a trial ship 'Jenny' earlier this year and took in the first huge load in the Pacific.
The carbon-neutral ship operates with huge specialised nets that pull plastic from the ocean, including micro-plastics that are as small as 1 millimetre. The team then pass the plastic on to be recycled into consumer items, such as containers and sunglasses.
Ocean plastic is extremely dangerous to ocean life as sea animals can become trapped by the plastic or they can ingest it, causing death. Even in cases where the plastic does not kill the animal it can pollute their blood stream leading to health problems while also contaminating the wider eco-system as smaller animals containing plastic are eaten by larger animals. Worryingly, it is now believed that these micro plastics are also consumed by human beings that eat seafood, and that this can cause hormonal damage that can seriously affect quality of life.
At present, it is thought that there are around 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean. As a result of ocean currents, this plastic is dragged into 5 different main areas of the oceans, creating huge deserts of plastic pollution. This concentration of plastic pollution does however make it much easier for the ships to tackle.
It is now hoped that a whole fleet of similar ships can be sent to work systematically eliminating plastic pollution in the ocean. The team estimate that 10 ships working in the 5 main areas of plastic pollution could remove 50% of all pollution within 10 years, and that almost all could be removed within 20 years. To this end, the team are looking for financial backing from both the private sector and government agencies.
[Based on reporting by: Good News Network]
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