US$ 1 million-plus for student’s Ocean Cleanup drive

Global – 19-year-old Dutch student Boyan Slat has received plenty of support for his Ocean Cleanup project. The initial test phase of the plan to fish plastic out of the world’s oceans will cost US$ 2 million and more than half that amount has been raised in the past two months.

Slat, a student at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, launched his idea in 2012. The project includes the deployment of long floating arms in a ‘V’ shape that selectively remove and store plastic floating in the oceans.

He presented his feasibility report in New York last month. One of the world’s most polluted areas of ocean lies between California and the Hawaiian islands where Slat believes he can install his machine in 2020, removing half of the plastic from the region within 10 years.

For more information, visit: www.theoceancleanup.com