Back in 2013, we reported on the story of 19 year old Byron Slat, who had developed a device with the capacity to remove 7,250,000 tonnes of plastic and garbage from the worlds oceans in just 5 years. Byron, now 21 and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup Project, has just announced that his project will come into fruition by 2016. The announcement was made during Asia’s largest technology conference, Seoul Digital Forum, in South Korea.
His system spans 2,000 meters, which means it will become the longest floating structure to ever be deployed into the ocean. Launching this device represents a huge milestone in The Ocean Cleanup’s mission to clean and rid the world’s oceans of plastic pollution.
Deployment off the coast of Tsushima, an island located between Japan and South Korea, is currently being researched. The device will be operational for around two years before it reaches the shores of Tsushima Island, where researchers are now looking into whether or not the plastic that is caught can be used as an alternative energy source.
