Thanks to the help of Rotterdam-based non-profit Ocean Cleanup, our severely polluted Klang River is set to get a new life. The gigantic vacuum machine known as the Interceptor has been docked in the Klang River for over two months now in its mission to clean up the polluted river. The Interceptor has the ability and capacity to clear up at least 100,000kg of garbage daily from the river.
Our Klang River is said to be one of the top 50 polluted rivers in the world
To date, the Interceptor has already collected trash including motorcycle helmets, handbags, countless plastic bottles and garbage bags in the Klang River. The massive cleanup is part of the Selangor Maritime Gateway initiative under the Menteri Besar Inc. According to Amirudin, the clean-up exercise is provided free of charge for a year with Ocean Cleanup collaborating with state-government linked company Landasan Lumayan Sdn Bhd. Amazing!
The founder of Ocean Cleanup and The Interceptor is a 25-year-old guy who studied aerospace engineering
Boyan Slat, inventor of Interceptor is also the Ocean Cleanup chief executive officer. the 25-year-old guy from the Netherlands invented a boat system called The Interceptor that catches rubbish polluting rivers before it reaches the ocean.
Ocean Cleanup’s main mission is to rid the oceans of plastic waste. There are two things that they would like to achieve – to clean up what was already in the ocean as well as prevent more plastic from reaching the ocean.
Did you know 1% of rivers are responsible for 80% of the plastic going into the ocean?
Boyan said that they started with the river project back in 2015 and the result is the Interceptor. The Interceptor 002 on Klang River was the first full-fledged machine. There are four Interceptors have been built to date, Interceptor 001 operating in Jakarta, Indonesia since 2016. The two others will be installed in Can Tho, Mekong Delta in Vietnam and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
The Interceptor had initially suctioned in 1,200kg to 1,500kg of garbage daily which has now reduced to 800kg to 900kg daily.
The Interceptor was built when he was still in his teens
The Ocean Cleanup was launched in 2013 when Boyan was still in his teens. To date, The Ocean Cleanup has raised some US$31 million to achieve its mission of ridding the world’s oceans of plastic.
To know more about The Ocean Cleanup, click here
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