Young inventor plans to stop 90% of floating sea plastic by 2040

In the face of growing concern about environmental issues, a Dutch nonprofit is pioneering a river-focused approach to significantly reduce plastic pollution in the world’s oceans within a few decades. Founded by inventor Boyan Slat, this organisation is committed to intercepting plastic waste before it reaches ocean waters, utilizing innovative technology installed in key rivers around the globe.

Boyan Slat, who left aerospace engineering studies to develop his environmental vision, believes that with an investment of under $1 billion, the issue of ocean plastic could be drastically curtailed in the next 15 years. His organisation, The Ocean Cleanup, deploys floating barriers that capture debris flowing downstream and uses autonomous interceptors equipped with conveyor belts to collect and remove this waste for recycling or disposal. Currently, these systems are operational in rivers located in countries such as Indonesia, India, Colombia, the Philippines, and regions within the Caribbean.

A significant part of the strategy focuses on rivers that contribute the most plastic pollution. For example, Slat highlights the Motagua river in Guatemala, which despite being a single river, delivers more plastic into the ocean than all the combined efforts of the 38 OECD countries, accounting for roughly 2% of global plastic emissions. The team’s immediate plan is to address pollution in 30 major cities by 2030, with an expenditure projected at around $350 million. Looking further ahead, their ambition is to prevent 90% of floating plastic from entering the seas by 2040 and to also clean existing large-scale plastic accumulations like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Since its inception over a decade ago, Slat’s organisation has reportedly removed nearly 50 million kilograms of plastic from rivers and oceans worldwide. Slat emphasizes the importance of positive momentum: “The world needs a success story. There is a lot of pessimism, a lot of fatalism, especially among people of my generation,” he told the Times. “But if we can say, ‘There was a time when the oceans were filled with plastic, that two thirds of the planet was polluted, and then we solved it’ – I think that will be a case of action inspiring action.”

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