Gadgetory

1.8 trillion pieces of plastic float at the surface of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch hear the ocean cleanup is deploying the world's first technological solution to this growing problem the principle behind that is simple create a coastline where there are none concentrate the plastic and take it out the system consists of a 600 meter long floater and a three meter deep skirt attached below the floater provides buoyancy to the system and prevents plastic from flowing over it while the skirt prevents smaller particles from escaping underneath as the impenetrable skirt creates a downward flow marine life can safely pass beneath it here is how the system catches plastic the system takes advantage of three natural oceanic forces winds waves and currents both the plastic and system are being carried by the current however wind and waves propel the system only as the floater partly sticks above the surface while plastic is primarily just beneath it the system thus moves faster than the plastic allowing the plastic to be captured the skirt extends deeper in the middle of the system than on the outer edges as the current applies pressure on the skirt the system naturally adopts a u-shape which enables it to concentrate plastic in its center like a funnel the drag generated by the skirt also acts as a stabilizing force allowing the system to reorient itself when the wind changes direction and because the system like the plastic is free-floating it automatically drifts to the areas with the highest plastic concentration fitted with solar powered lights anti-collision systems cameras sensors and satellite antennas the system actively communicates its position at all times and continuously gathers performance data periodically a support vessel comes by to take out the concentrated plastic like a garbage truck of the ocean the plastic is then transported to land recycle and made into durable products this is the first of a fleet of sixty systems once deployed the fleet is expected to clean up 50% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch every five years majority of my childhood was always within the water there's nothing worse than being out there surrounded by plastic I was a product designer in another life and it was my job to make plastic products and after a while I realized that we didn't need the stuff that I was making and so I stopped I met Andrew and he told me about his project and it just clicked for me the project was amazing we could have a better time at the beach because we're not swimming in plastic and pollution anymore we haven't ate better because the fish healthier arenas ports and yacht Bubba's is the perfect place for the Sieben there's no massive ocean storms it's a controlled environment it catches everything floating in the water plastic bottles paper oil fuel and detergent 24 hours a day seven days a week 365 days a year another good thing with the location of the CBN is that people can see what we're catching what they're they're swimming in it's been a big change in our life we quit our jobs we've taken all our money and we're putting their heart and souls into making this happen one of our goals is to make the seaman from our own plastics to create another seven to capture more it's a domino effect the second goal is to create a world where we don't need the sea beans imagine that we have a pollution free ocean for our future generations today 320 million tons of plastic are produced globally each year at best just 10% - this versatile material is recycled the rest it's either burned buried or even lost into the environment recycling technologies was founded to solve this problem we've developed the machine that recycles all types of plastic waste back into the oil it originally came from what's special about our technology is it's able to tackle plastic currently considered and recyclable films food pouches laminated plastics such as crisp packets and even black plastic globally plastic waste is a huge untapped market opportunity that could curb everted into 1.5 billion barrels of oil with 60 billion pounds that's almost three years of the UK's annual oil consumption drastic is a fantastic material it keeps her food fresher for longer makes cars lighter and is widely used in health care it's hard to imagine a world without plastic but no one wants to live in a world that is drowning in it either at recycling technologies we see plastic waste as a valuable resource we are recycling it to produce an oil we call flax which has many uses one of which is making one plastic since formation we've raised five million pounds of equity and four and a half million pounds of grant funding from the government these funds have been used to develop and test the technology since 2016 we have been successfully operating a near full-scale commercial plant at Swindon Borough Council's waste facility with support from the Scottish Government we reach agreement with a waste operator for the first commercial plant to be operating in Scotland in 2018 a global wax trader has also signed a five-year agreement to purchase the wax proportion of plaques we as consumers want to know that when we put something in the recycling bin it's actually going to get recycled the beauty about recycling technologies is very soon we'll all be able to recycle plastic at home with confidence using our patented process the machine takes plastic waste and feeds it into a hot chamber in the absence of oxygen the long polymer chains are cracked to create a range of plaques products including wax and a raw material for making more plastic recycling technologies machines will be modular and mass-produced in a factory just as you would a car coming off the production line they'll be transported to existing waste sites anywhere in the world mass production will allow us to build recycling capacity quickly to meet demand our plan is to install 1300 machines by 2027 producing seven million tonnes of plaques annually this will put recycling technologies near every city every beach and every ocean in the UK it can cost a hundred pounds of tongue for waste companies to dispose of plastic waste our technology will turn that cost into an income of two hundred and seventy pounds per ton we have a great team here at recycling technologies but of course it's more than just us we're grateful for the extensive support from universities grant bodies are great suppliers and and of course our current investors now with your support we'll be able to install our first commercial plant in Scotland by the end of 2018