The organization famous for helping the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, The Ocean Cleanup, is working on stopping plastic before it gets to the ocean. The company unveiled a new cleanup project, The Interceptor, in the Netherlands on October 26.

This new vessel will remove waste from rivers before it can flow into the ocean. Called The Interceptor, it works to skim across the river, moving plastic into a conveyor belt. The vessel is solar-powered. According to The Ocean Cleanup, 80% of trash comes from 1,000 rivers. The company hopes to stop the trash before it enters the ocean. The Interceptor has a capacity to pick up 50,000 kg of trash each day.

The Interceptor carries waste up a conveyor belt and then distributes the debris and trash into dumpsters located on board. Each dumpster can hold 50 cubic meters of trash. The trash is then emptied off-vessel. The dumpsters send a text message to operators when the dumpsters are almost full. The waste is then carried to local waste management companies.

Two vessels are already at work in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Check out the video explaining the system:

This video shows the system cleaning in Malaysia:

The Ocean Cleanup is known for its device collecting trash from the Great Pacific Garbage patch using the ocean current. The system went live in Fall, 2019.

Read more about plastic cleanup efforts in One Green Planet, including the Shark Drone working to collect trash. And read more about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

There are products you may be using or habits you may have that contribute to plastic Pollution. Learn more about how the use of Teabags, Cotton Swabs, Laundry, Contact Lenses, Glitter and Sheet Masks pollute our oceans so you can make more informed decisions going forward. There are also numerous simple actions and switches that can help cut plastic out of our lives including, making your own cosmetics, shampoo, toothpaste, soap, household cleaners and using  mason jars, reusable bags/bottles/straws, avoiding microbeads!

To learn more about the impact of plastic waste, please read the articles below: 

• Marine Animals that are Dying because of our Plastic Habit
• Where Plastic Really Goes When You Throw it Out
• 5 Documentaries to make you Rethink Single-Use Plastics
• 6 Million Tons of Single-Use Plastics Get Thrown Out Every Year!

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