In 2011, 16-year-old Dutch inventor and entrepreneur Boyan Slat was diving in Greece when he noticed that there was more plastic in the water than there were fish. He decided to try to fix the problem and devoted his time to his research.
Two years later, he founded The Ocean Cleanup and gave his first TEDx Talk about cleaning up the ocean using its natural water currents. His idea was to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a gigantic island of plastic and other waste materials hanging out in the north Pacific ocean between California and Hawaii.
The Ocean Cleanup creates technology that would help remove plastic waste from the ocean and after raising over $2.2 million, the organization launched an intensive research in 2014. They studied the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in preparation of the full-scale deployment in 2020. They developed technology using the data acquired and planned to launch the first cleanup system in mid-2018.
This boy genius started building engineering projects when he was 2 and has a Guinness World Record title at age 14 when he launched 213 water rockets simultaneously. Now at 23, Boyan continues to reach for a bigger goal – to clean half of the plastic waste in 5 years.
The first ocean cleanup system is scheduled to be deployed in 2018.
Watch the full unveil here: https://t.co/RdYMFGP7c2 pic.twitter.com/pgu7wqGE5B— The Ocean Cleanup (@TheOceanCleanup) May 16, 2017
Having completed all welds for the 120-meter test section, the assembly crew has now moved into the screen assembly phase. The tow-test is scheduled to occur within the next two weeks, weather permitting. Follow the road to the cleanup: https://t.co/MZ7wECT0KZ pic.twitter.com/GYXsORGPh3
— The Ocean Cleanup (@TheOceanCleanup) April 25, 2018
Today we’re opening the gates of our assembly yard to the media. On this occasion @BoyanSlat is giving detailed explanations on the specificities of the first cleanup system. pic.twitter.com/HBd6MvPpiv
— The Ocean Cleanup (@TheOceanCleanup) April 18, 2018
