Boyan Slat was born in 1994 in the Netherlands. In 2011 the young man vacationed in Greece, a country known for its beautiful beaches and amazing sapphire blue sea. But the magic soon turned into frustration, as he entered the water, the boy, who was 16, saw a lot of plastic bags floating. There were so many plastic bags, which he thought were jellyfish.
He couldn't stop thinking about what he saw and as soon as he returned home, he began to study the subject. Learned that humanity throws 6.4 million tons of garbage at sea per year and that 80% of this is plastic; it is estimated that there are 18,000 pieces of plastic for each square kilometer of ocean. And found dirt of colossal proportions, which only worsens.
But Boyan thought he could get by, he created a plan and presented it at the high school science fair, the project won an award from the University of Delft, one of the most important in the Netherlands, and made the boy be invited to perform at the TED (this presentation has already more than 1.7 million views on the Internet). The United Nations took knowledge of the project and, in November 2014, gave Boyan its biggest environmental award, the Champion of the Earth. Since then the boy created a website to raise donations, hired scientists and engineers, and finally began to realize the project.
But, what is the project?
Well, it all started with a simple idea, Boyan decided to study the oceanic gyres, there are five major gyres that are great ocean currents that pull the trash and act as huge swirls of dirt. These gyres have up to six times more plastic than zooplankton.
So Boyan thought, why not attack here? Instead of going until waste, why not let it come to you and catch it in a trap?
That is what is his project, creating barriers, each one is formed by a cord with 100 km of buoys arranged in"U" shape. As the maritime current passes, the plastic arrives and gets stuck. After that garbage is collected by a ship passing through the site once every 45 days. In theory, fish and other animals wouldn't be affected because they could pass under the barriers.
Many experts have criticized the project claiming that the oceanic gyres are too big, the buoys will break, deform, the problem is in setting (because each barrier needs to be tied with a 4km cable, to the seabed, what is technically difficult). Also some questioned what would be done with the collected plastic, because the salt water and the sun change its properties, making it difficult to recycle. The barrage of criticism stirred Boyan. "It affected me a lot," he admits.
Using part of the money that was raised, Boyan hired a team of engineers and biologists who produced a study of 530 pages explaining how it can work. One of the solutions has been found in Brazil. An experience of Caxias do Sul University showed that it's possible to recycle plastic collected at sea. "People think that is just get the material, put in a machine and recycle. But it is fragmented and full of colonies (animals) on the surface," says the student of environmental engineering Kauê Pelegrini, responsible for the project. He and his teachers have created a process that cleans, sorts and conditions turned into plastic soap dishes.
The Boyan's study also showed that it's possible to turn plastic into oil that could be resold generating resources for the maintenance of buoys. So far, Boyan raised just over $ 2 million in donations. This money is enough to produce some barriers and test them in the first stage of the project, expected to last four years. It calculates that if the system were implemented on a large scale would be possible to remove 16% of all plastic oceans per decade. This means that, theoretically, the marine debris problem could be solved in a few decades. The cost would be $ 30 million annually, a modest value, only the city of São Paulo spends 20 times that with garbage collection. "I think technology is the best way for any change. I could devote my life to it," the boy dreams.
Source: http://planetasustentavel.abril.com.br/noticia/atitude/o-menino-que-pode-salvar-o-mar-boyan-slat-superinteressante-839380.shtml?utm_source=redesabril_psustentavel&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=redesabril_psustentavel
Do you want to know more about Boyan Slat? http://www.boyanslat.com/
Image: Internet
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