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He said he hoped Mr Slat's group was transparent with its data and shared information with the public about what happens with the first deployment.
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Mr Leonard also raised concerns marine and wildlife could become tangled.
GIANT PACFIC ITRASH ISLAND PATCH
Mr Slat said his organisation hopes to remove 50 per cent of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in five years. Mr Leonard said 8 million tonnes of plastic waste entered the ocean annually and that a solution must include a multi-pronged approach, including stopping plastic from reaching the ocean and more education so people would reduce consumption of single-use plastic containers and bottles. "The ocean needs all the help it can get." Approach should include prevention, education: scientist "We at the Ocean Conservancy are highly sceptical but we hope it works," he said. They will stay in the water for two decades and in that time will collect 90 per cent of the garbage in the patch, he added.Ĭhief scientist at environmental advocacy group Ocean Conservancy, George Leonard, said he was sceptical Mr Slat could achieve the goal because even if plastic rubbish could be taken out of the ocean, a lot more poured in each year. The free-floating barriers are made to withstand harsh weather conditions and constant wear and tear. Mr Slat first became passionate about cleaning up the oceans after he saw more plastic bags than fish while diving in the Mediterranean. The Ocean Cleanup, which has raised $US35 million in donations to fund the project, including from chief executive Marc Benioff and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, will deploy 60 free-floating barriers in the Pacific Ocean by 2020. "We still have to prove the technology … which will then allow us to scale up a fleet of systems," he said. He said he was most looking forward to a ship loaded with plastic coming back to port.
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Mr Slat said he and his team would pay close attention to whether the system worked efficiently and withstood harsh ocean conditions, including huge waves. Plans to scale up to 'fleet' of barriers if technology works Shipping containers filled with fishing nets, plastic bottles, laundry baskets and other plastic refuse scooped up by the system are expected to be back on land within a year, he said. The buoyant, U-shaped barrier made of plastic with a tapered 3-metre deep screen is designed to act like a coastline, trapping some of the 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic estimated to be floating in the garbage patch, but allowing marine life to swim safely beneath it.įitted with solar power lights, cameras, sensors and satellite antennas, the cleanup system will communicate its position at all times, allowing a support vessel to fish out the collected plastic every few months and transport it to dry land where it will be recycled, Mr Slat said. The barrier will scoop up floating fishing nets, plastic bottles, laundry baskets and other plastic refuse.