Technology helps ships filter plastic waste in the ocean

A British inventor has invented a system that can help ships filter plastic waste that pollutes seawater.

The Remora system promises to provide an effective solution for filtering plastic waste at sea. Video: Reuters.

With the invention of inventor Robert Edwin Rouse at the Royal College of Art in England, ships can help filter plastic while operating at sea, Reuters reported on July 31.

Plastic waste after decomposing into small enough piecescan penetrate the fish bodythrough the digestive tract.There are an estimated 5 trillion pieces of plastic debris floating in the oceans, threatening marine ecosystems and human health.

The system’s two initial designs include an ocean turbine and a thruster. As seawater passes through the system, plastic debris is captured while floating organisms are returned to the ocean.

“The Remora system offers a solution that combines two ocean power generation technologies, or propulsion, and filtration,” said Rouse.Whether ocean power or propulsion is generated depends on the design used on the vessel.

Because it can be deployed on a global scale, the system eliminates two weaknesses: high cost and impracticality in modern marine debris removal solutions due to the large scale of pollution."The Remora system is designed to handle small plastic waste, but can be reconfigured to filter plastic waste in sizes of 1-20 mm.", Rouse explained.

Rouseis looking for partners to put Remora to real-world testing. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a UK-based charity, there is likely to be more plastic waste than fish in the ocean by 2050.

According to VNE