Sofas, mannequins, and even human remains. The Dutch inventor Boyan Slat encounters the strangest things in his fight against plastic pollution. His organization The Ocean Cleanup claims to have already fished 65 million kilos of waste from seas and rivers.
Last night Slat (32) received an award for his work in Qatar: in the capital Doha he was given the International Young Energy Leader Award.
This took place at the presentation of the Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah International Energy Awards, prizes in the field of energy and sustainability, named after the godfather of the Qatari gas industry. In the ballroom of the luxurious Sheraton Hotel, about 400 dignitaries from the oil and gas industry were addressed from the podium.
Not impossible
Slat is aware of the contradiction: Qatar is considered one of the largest exporters of fossil fuels in the world, which also provide the main raw materials for plastic production. At the same time, the very wealthy country is the place to raise funds.
In his acceptance speech, Slat looked back on the start of his adventure. "When I was 16 and came up with this idea, most people thought it was impossible, but now we are doing it."
One of the most remarkable finds by Slat and his organization was a drinking bottle from the US military from the Vietnam War. "It was still intact," Slat says in an interview with NOS in Doha. "That shows how long that junk keeps drifting if you don't remove it."
At sea, special objects are regularly found, from golf balls to mannequins. In rivers, employees sometimes come across gruesome finds. "Also corpses," says Slat. "Unfortunately, that is something we occasionally have to deal with, especially in countries with a lot of crime."
Kilo of plastic per second
The Ocean Cleanup, based in Rotterdam, is now active in twelve countries and has about 350 employees. According to Slat, the organization currently intercepts nearly a kilo of waste per second, thereby preventing up to 5 percent of the global inflow of plastic into the oceans.
Slat became known for his plans to clean up the plastic soup in the Pacific Ocean, but his company now focuses on rivers. Research by The Ocean Cleanup showed that only 1 percent of all rivers are responsible for about 80 percent of the plastic that ends up in the sea.
Therefore, the company developed special installations, interceptors, that intercept waste before it reaches the ocean. "If you can choose between cleaning up plastic at sea or intercepting it before it gets there, the latter is of course much cheaper," says Slat.
In the next three years, he wants to tackle pollution in about 250 rivers in thirty cities. This could prevent up to a third of the global inflow of plastic into the sea.
Cheaper than Halloween decorations
That requires a lot of money. The Ocean Cleanup received 121 million dollars this year from The Audacious Project, a philanthropic group that includes Bill Gates and MacKenzie Scott, Jeff Bezos's ex.
Still, there is a shortage of 40 million dollars per year, says Slat. "It is the cheapest world problem to solve," he says. "That 40 million is only 2 percent of what Americans spend annually on Halloween decorations."
Funding is still missing for 22 new interceptors. If that money does not come before the end of the year, the project risks delays.
In Doha, Slat appealed to the wealthy leaders in the room: "Qatar has shown the world what is possible when ambition is combined with investments and a long-term vision. That is a chance to apply the same mentality to one of the biggest environmental problems of our time."
'Not an environmental activist'
Slat does not consider himself an environmental activist, but rather an inventor and entrepreneur. "For me, it is simply a technical problem. What is the fastest and most effective way to solve it?"
He has little sympathy for the idea that environmental problems should mainly be addressed by consuming less. According to him, the solution lies in technological innovation. "People simply have needs and desires. The question is how we can shape our society so that these can be fulfilled without harming the environment."
Does he never get angry about the mess he encounters? "For me, a problem is just something to be solved. Getting angry doesn't help."