A huge garbage collection system designed to clean plastics floating in the Pacific Ocean could finally collect plastic, its inventor announced on Wednesday.
Ocean Cleanup, a Netherlands-based non-profit organisation, says its latest prototype captures and accommodates pieces of varying sizes, from huge abandoned fishing gear to as small as 1 mm micro-plastics.
The marine cleaning system is a U-shaped barrier with a mesh skirt suspended below the surface of the water. It moves with current and collects faster plastic as they float. Fish and other animals will be able to swim underneath.