This Boy Said He’d Make Oceans Clean Themselves Just Invented Solar-Powered Barges That Clean Rivers

If Moana could see us, she would be crying a river at realizing the state of the river and ocean right now. There are many areas where the river is just too dirty to be used and trash would be floating everywhere, covering the whole surface. Boyan Slat, a Dutch inventor and entrepreneur are determined to see through that the ocean will be clean again one day.

When he was 16, he went diving in Greece but was so astonished to see so much plastic, more than he does see fish on the coast. From then on, he swore to do something about it and two years later, he began The Ocean Cleanup project.

This 25-year-old man had managed to design a solar-powered floating device that collects plastic.

He has been working on the project since 2011 with the mission of developing the necessary technology that will help rid the oceans of plastic. He also aims to clean the Great Pacific Garbage Patch where marine debris can be seen stretching across the ocean from California to Japan.

This device is able to filter out 110 tons of garbage daily and is powered by the sun.

Two shipping containers were collected from the area throughout the years. Boyan also added that he wants to fix things from the source, in fact, he prefers it that way than just ‘treating the symptoms’. Research shows that 80% of the plastic that is thrown into the rivers gather in the oceans.

The floating device sucks debris and the trash are carried inland to be recycled.

The device is able to collect up to 110 tons of trash from the river every day. This, of course, reduces the number of pollutants that flow into the ocean, where it’s much harder to clean. He also hopes to be able to achieve his aim of placing barges across all polluted rivers by 2025

They are currently working on Klang River of Malaysia and Cengkareng Drain in Indonesia. Currently, heavy flooding has swept over the city of Jakarta where the river flows, causing a huge volume of debris to be swept all over the city and eventually blocking the drainage.

This automated floating device is also collecting plastic on the Garbage Patch. It’s expected half of them will be cleaned in 5 years.

Boyan says the team is determined to see through their project. He said, “Though we still have much more work to do, I am eternally grateful for the team’s commitment and dedication to the mission and look forward to continuing to the next phase of development.”

People are allowed to nominate their rivers to be cleaned by The Ocean Cleanup and appeal to the local governments. Donations are also welcomed to help them build even more ‘Inceptors’, the name of the floating device.

Check here out on how the team mapped the Great Pacific Garbage Patch!