A great day for The Netherlands, and lets be honest: for the whole world actually. 21-year old inventor Boyan Slat unveiled his prototype of The Ocean Cleanup, the ambitious project to filter plastic out of the oceans.
The Ocean Cleanup earlier this month raised funding for this test with the prototype (1.5 million euro).
The prototype, a 100 meter long tube, will be placed today (June 23) in the North Sea, 23 kilometers (12 nautical miles) off the Dutch coast. It will remain there for a year. It won't filter plastic immediately. Mainly this pilot is a test for the survivability of the system in severe weather conditions. Sensors will track every motion of the prototype and the loads it is subjected to.
"If it doesn't break there, it doesn't break anywhere", said Slat to NOS. In the initial release he said there was a 30 percent chance of breaking. However, these of course are only the first steps of an ambitious project. Let's all hope the floating barriers can withstand nature!
Image: The Ocean Cleanup