Solar-Powered Boats Will Clean 2.4 Million Tons Of Waste From Rivers And Save Our Planet

Today, a ton of plastic is causing severe damage to life underwater. From turtles getting choked with plastic rings to the plastic just accumulating in spots and disturbing the marine habitat -- plastic is destroying the environment.

You might wonder most of the plastic waste that is in the sea might be due to the beaches and people on them. But that¡¯s not entirely the case, on average, 2.4 million metric tons of plastic flows through rivers.

However, some are working to do some damage control, literally. The Ocean Cleanup is a company that has created a barge of sorts that collects waste from rivers as it moves.

Meet the Interceptor

The barge is called ¡®Interceptor¡¯ and just like its name it looks cool too. This is installed on the riverbed, but far from the normal routes, boats take to pass through. The interceptor has a large barrier that blocks and traps floating plastic pieces.

It captures it and stores it in containers, which is later sent for recycling/ waste management. In case the interceptor misses out on some plastic waste, they¡¯ve installed another interceptor slightly further in the opposite direction that manages to trap it.

The Ocean Cleanup

It runs on solar energy!

What¡¯s cooler is that these units don¡¯t run on fuel. Instead, they have solar panels installed on them that power the whole mechanism.

Nick Mallos, senior director of the Trash Free Seas program at the environmental nonprofit The Ocean Conservancy says, "When we think about solutions, we obviously need to think holistically. First and foremost, we need to move all the way upstream and reduce consumption and production of single-use, unnecessary plastics, and we need to better collect and recycle plastics and ensure materials are getting back into the supply chain for a circular economy. But then for the materials that are still escaping and currently not making their way in that system, the last line of defence is cleanup."