19-Year-Old Inventor Could Save the Oceans

A 19-Year-Old Inventor Could Save the Oceans. Dutch engineering student Boyan Slat became the center of attention of experts around the world with his idea to clean up plastic waste in the oceans. He managed to collect 2 million dollars for his project in a short time.

Young aeronautical engineering student has proposed a cheap and simple method of collecting millions of tons of plastic waste that has accumulated in the oceans over the years. Having raised nearly $2 million in donations, Slat now works with more than a hundred experts around the world.

Plastic soup of the ocean

The ever-increasing amount of plastic waste is drifted by the five main strong currents in the oceans and is included in what experts call 'plastic soup'.

The plastic, which dissolves into micro parts over time, enters the food chain with the digestion of fish and reaches the human body. The carcinogenic effect of plastic affects humans as well as all living things.

These wastes, which destroy the fishing and tourism sectors day by day, are almost impossible in practice, besides costing billions of dollars to be cleaned by classical means.

“Why should we go to plastic when it can come to you?” Thinks 19-year-old Dutch engineering student Boyan Slat's solution is to use the power of these currents.

How is it working?

Two very powerful 50-kilometer-long 'V'-shaped arms will be floated anchored to the bottom of the ocean. Three-meter-long curtains hanging from these arms collect plastics moving with the currents into 11-meter-wide cylinders with a volume of three thousand cubic meters.

There's enough plastic here to fill an Olympic pool. A solar-powered grinder will also be used to better fit the parts.

'I'm only 19 years old'

The young engineer, who came up with his idea in 2012, is already trying to develop his project with 100 experts from around the world. Slat, which has collected approximately $2 million in donations, wants to conduct the first trial in the Pacific Ocean as a pilot project.

Slat, who hopes his invention will collect half of the plastic in the Pacific in the first 10 years, is also receiving a lot of criticism.

Environmental protection organization members think that installing the device so far from the shore will negatively affect the natural life.

Some experts, who argue that the source of the problem is the coast, say that collecting garbage from the middle of the ocean is no different than filling water from the tap, and the invention will be more effective in rivers and coastal seas.

Aware of the limited possibilities, the young Dutch engineer is confident that his invention will work. "Fortunately, I'm surrounded by people who are more knowledgeable than me," said Slat. "I'm only 19 years old!" he adds.

 

Source : Gazetevatan

📩 14/07/2014 15:08