In the article, “Boy Genius Boyan Slat’s Giant Ocean Machine Is Real”, Schiller (2017) explores the potential of a huge ocean cleaning initiative envisioned by Slat. According to the article, the discovery of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by Charles Moore in 1997 inspried Slat to develop the Ocean Cleanup machine in 2011. The article states that Slat’s design functions as colossal floating booms that will entrap and gather waste which will allow for convenient disposal. He also made significant improvements to the design in hopes of increasing efficiency, reducing cost and saving time and effort. The Ocean Cleanup Foundation raised most of its fund from Silicon Valley. The revised design will be modular so that it can be scalable and operates independently. A former failed prototype provided insights to how Slat can improve on his design. He claims to have done extensive simulations on the booms and the Patch and estimated that tons of waste could be collected annually. Schiller learns about Slat’s long-term plans during a conversation in which he hopes to recycle the plastic waste into marketable products to finance the project.
While Slat’s idea of building the Ocean Cleanup machine will improve the pollution in ocean, it fails to address the source of the problem of illegal dumping and irresponsible action of polluting the environment.
First of all, plastic was invented in 1950 and since then its production had exploded to 448 million tons in 2015. Majority of the plastic produced did not get recycled but dump or burnt. Base on a report “Stemming the Tide: Land-based Strategies for a plastic-free ocean” (2015), suggested that land-based sources are responsible for 80 percent of the ocean pollution. These low resale value plastic that leak into the ocean is either uncollected, escape from the waste collection system or disposed into river or sea illegally. The Ocean Cleanup machine will not stop the continuous fuelling of the plastics waste into ocean.
Secondly, plastics are so prevalent in our life especially such as plastic bags, straw and bottles. These are single use product that causes most pollution. After use, it is conveniently threw on the street, at the beach or into river or drain. Eventually, these unwanted low residual value plastic find its way into the ocean contributing to the patch. The irresponsible action had contributed greatly to the pollution affecting the ocean ecosystem. In the article ‘Nanoplastics found to accumulate in marine organisms, risk being transferred up food chain: NUS study’ (2018), Dr Serena Teo mentioned: “It’s worrying, because this suggests that the organisms have a problem excreting and removing the nanoplastics, which increases the risk of bioaccumulation in the organisms, and subsequently into the rest of the food chain,”. Through this statement, it is clear that the plastics break down into micro and nano size as such that it will not be trap by the Slat’s machine therefore the ocean remains littered with plastics. This micro and nano size plastics will eventually consume by us as they are trap in the marines’ creatures.
Lastly, Slat’s machine is a novel idea but many aspects to the problem of the pollution in the ocean is not been answered. In the article ‘The Ocean Cleanup, Part 2: Technical review of the feasibility study’ (2014),Dr Martini stated: “Another fundamental problem that has not been adequately considered is biofouling – the inevitable growth of marine life on the structure – which will change the hydrodynamics and may add considerable load to the structure”. Through this statement, it explained that the Boom is still experiencing teething problem. The attachment of marine life to the Boom weights it down, reduce its efficiency and it will break down the boom slowly and contribute to the pollution. In order to prevent biofouling, the Boom have to be coated with biocidal antifoulants to kill the biogicial growth. In the article ‘Risks of Using Antifouling Biocides in Aquaculture’ (2012) the authors stated: “The use of biocides in the aquatic environment, however, has proved to be harmful as it has toxic effects on the marine environment.”. From this statement, it is proven that coating the Boom with biocides will have toxic effect in the ocean hence contributing further to the pollution.
Instead of creating bigger waste (Ocean Cleanup machine) to collect those smaller ones in the ocean, we should focus on policy, education, research and development and regulation to cut down on the usage of plastic. This mammoth effort have to begin with the respective government to regulate all industries in waste management and encourage the use of renewable energy sources. The use of renewable energy sources reduces off-shore drilling hence discouraging the production of raw materials for plastic by petrol chemical companies.
Reference
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Hannah Leung. (April 21, 2018). Five Asian Countries Dump More Plastic Into Oceans Than Anyone Else Combined: How You Can Help. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/hannahleung/2018/04/21/five-asian-countries-dump-more-plastic-than-anyone-else-combined-how-you-can help/#4d5af8b91234
WWF. HOW DOES PLASTIC END UP IN THE OCEAN?. Retrieved from https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/how-does-plastic-end-ocean
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Laura Parker. (August, 2016) WE MADE PLASTIC. WE DEPEND ON IT. NOW WE’RE DROWNING IN IT. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-planet-waste-pollution-trash-crisis/
Helen Briggs. (March 22, 2018) Plastic patch in Pacific Ocean growing rapidly, study shows. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43490235
National Geographic. (April 27, 2010) Marine Pollution. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/oceans/critical-issues-marine-pollution/
Liyana Othman. (May 31, 2018) Nanoplastics found to accumulate in marine organisms, risk being transferred up food chain: NUS study. Retrieved From https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/plastic-pollution-nanoplastic-microplastic-ocean-nus-research-10292766
Dr. Martini. (July 14, 2014) The Ocean Cleanup, Part 2: Technical review of the feasibility study. Retrieved from http://www.deepseanews.com/2014/07/the-ocean-cleanup-part-2-technical-review-of-the-feasibility-study/
Esteban, M.A., Meseguer, J., Cuesta, A. & Guardiola, F.A. (Feb 2, 2012). Risks of Using Antifouling Biocides in Aquaculture, Department of Cell Biology and Histology, Faculty of Biology, University of Murcia. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3291976/
James Tan 