A teenager’s plan to trawl for plastic in the Pacific becomes reality
System 001 is the first of a fleet to clean the ocean
FEW things exercise green sensibilities more these days than marine plastic litter. The detritus looks unsightly when it washes up on beaches, and cruel when it chokes photogenic sea creatures. Scientists estimate that perhaps 8m tonnes of plastic waste enters the ocean each year, discharged by rivers or shed from ships. Plenty stays close to shore. Some, though, is carried by currents to mid-ocean gyres.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Sweeping the ocean”
From the September 15th 2018 edition
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