Il 21enne olandese Boyan Slat, che tre anni fa si era fatto conoscere con un progetto disegnato su un tovagliolo di carta per ripulire i mari da milioni di tonnellate di plastica, ha trovato i finanziamenti necessari per lanciarsi nella sua avventura, 1,5 milioni di euro, e ha iniziato un anno di test nel Mare del Nord.
Dal 2020 Slat spera di iniziare a ripulire la grande isola di plastica che galleggia nel Pacifico
Erwin Zwart/The Ocean Cleanup 02.11.2016, 16:43
Mentre la concorrenza suggerisce di utilizzare navi per recuperare i rifiuti in questione, "Ocean Cleanup" consiste nello sfruttare le correnti: "Perché andare a cercare i rifiuti, quando vengono loro da noi?", ha chiesto dieci giorni fa in conferenza stampa a Scheveningen. Il suo prototipo è una barriera di 100 metri di lunghezza ultraresistente in caucciù, poliestere e tessuto, costituita da reti in grado di sopportare 80 tonnellate di peso e di catturare anche frammenti di un millimetro di diametro.
Boyan Slat
Premiato dalle Nazioni Unite per la sua idea nel 2014, Slat ha lasciato gli studi di ingegneria spaziale per perseguire il suo sogno di una struttura simile a quella ora in prova, a forma di V ma lunga 100 chilometri e da ancorare al fondo degli oceani.
pon/AFP
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