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Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

Scooping up all the plastic waste in the world's oceans would be a massive undertaking given that scientists estimate there's around 5 trillion pieces [plos.org] of it currently bobbing about in the water. But the Ocean Cleanup project believes it is up to the challenge and has today announced plans for the first real-world test of its rubbish collection barriers off the coast of The Netherlands [gizmag.com].

The Ocean Cleanup project [gizmag.com] is the brainchild of Dutch entrepreneur Boyan Slat, who dreamt up the concept while studying aerospace engineering at Delft University. Rather than chasing after the rubbish, Slat's plan is to have the the oceans' natural gyres, or rotating currents, do the work for him.

By using this natural system of circular ocean currents to push plastic waste into long floating arms and onwards into a central collection point, Slat's system would be highly energy efficient. He claims that it would cut the time required to clean up the oceans from millennia to mere years, and a positive feasibility study and US$2.1 million crowdfunding phase have since given him impetus to put his plan into action.

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