Fishing trash from the ocean: the Pacific trash vortex

Two men join hands to find ways to clear the Pacific trash vortex
Victoria Vaughan Straits Times 21 Aug 10;

WHEN it comes to trying to save the environment, the oft-heard mantra is: 'I am just one person, what difference could I make?'

However, in the face of such a planetary challenge, one man has taken the weight of the Pacific trash vortex on his shoulders.

If you sail west from North America towards the sea north of Hawaii and enter the Doldrums, found in the centre of the circulating currents of the North Pacific gyre, you will eventually find yourself coasting through a minestrone-like scattering of 2mm plastic confetti.

About two years ago, water sports enthusiast Doug Woodring, 44, heard of this floating garbage patch and decided something must be done.

Three months later, he met plastics expert Edward Kosior, 58, who was also aware of the problem, at a Singapore conference, and Project Kaisei, a Japanese word meaning Ocean Planet, was born.

The project comes under the charity Ocean Voyages Institute, California, which owns the Kaisei, and uses the ship as a research vessel to obtain data and samples from the floating trash. It is moored at Richmond, California.

Mr Woodring, originally from San Francisco but based in Hong Kong for the last 16 years, said: 'Originally, we wanted to raise awareness of the issue by making a documentary, but this quickly turned into an integrated and proactive commitment.

'We want to raise more than just awareness, we are trying to work with industry, develop technology and work with policy and education to solve the problem.'

The effort involved in tackling and raising awareness of this issue dominates Mr Woodring's life. 'It takes up 200 per cent of my time; I wanted just to raise awareness but I didn't expect to be the one trying to solve everything.'

The team set off on its second research voyage last week from San Francisco. The first trip last year looked at the debris while the second will examine ways of scooping up the estimated 70 billion pieces of plastic confetti.

The original plan was to create boats which can suck up the plastic and convert it into diesel to power them when they are at sea. However, the reality is that there is not enough large-scale plastic to power a boat, explained Professor Kosior, who has been studying plastic since 1975.

In this new voyage, the team is planning to test a number of new catch methods for debris collection. One method uses biomimicry to copy the way the waves break on a shore by getting the sea to break on a ramp and push up the plastic into the boat or a static collector.

This test method is low on energy use and reduces the impact on marine life, as even small sea life will swim away instinctively when they hear the sound of 'breaking' waves on a beach.

The mission will then bring back the debris that is collected for testing, to show that some of it can be turned back into liquefied fuel or other secondary products.

'We will never clean up all of it, no way, but we'll get some of it and bring along new technology,' said Mr Woodring, adding that a positive from the BP oil spill could be that new collection methods are invented.

'It's a long-term project, it's not just about this one body of water, it's about all our oceans and how we are treating the planet,' he said.

'A piece of plastic we use for 30 seconds to stir a coffee or eat a salad will last for hundreds and hundreds of years. There is a real mismatch that we have never really thought about.'

Every year, over 260 million tonnes of plastic is produced, yet less than 5 per cent is recycled. In Singapore, plastic has one of the lowest recycling rates at 9 per cent of the 688,900 tonnes of waste generated last year.

Prof Kosior, who lives in Britain, said plastic comes from bottle tops and crates, for example.

It starts to sink only when it has been encrusted with calcium. Such plastic items, if left in the hot sun, would start to become brittle after 10 years. This can take up to 30 years in the sea, which means this trash could be quite dated.

'The estimation of how much is out there needs to be more accurate,' said Prof Kosior. 'It's not something you can walk on, it's not like a raft. If it was, then we could scoop it up. The reality is we have to be more inventive.'

The first voyage found that birds and fish, even those which dwell 200m below the water surface, have been eating the plastic. There is little doubt that the rubbish we throw away may be turning up on our plates, when we tuck into a fish supper, in the form of heavy metals or toxins.

'It's time we stopped treating the ocean as a big benign dump. We have shown it's not too big for us to have an effect as we have whittled down fish stocks,' said Prof Kosior.

It all comes back to the land, where policies and education must endeavour to stop rubbish ending up in the oceans where no one country is willing to take responsibility for it.

'It's a tragedy of the commons, as no government is liable, just like air. But everyone is part of the problem and must be part of the solution,' said Mr Woodring.

The strangest piece of litter Mr Woodring and his team found was a stuffed toy dog perched on top of a discarded fishing net.

'It was like it was waiting to be rescued. It's a symbol that anything that comes from the land can end up in the ocean; it does not just disappear,' said Mr Woodring.

Beyond making the world a better place, there is an economic benefit to converting waste plastic back into diesel.

The cost for landfill is going up. For example, in Britain, it is now £48 (S$100) a tonne and this will go up to £80 a tonne. At Singapore's Semakau landfill, it has been $77 a tonne since May 1, 2002 and is reviewed annually. Europe is considering banning landfill, explained Prof Kosior, who has built recycling plants in Britain and Australia.

'Islands that are powered by coal, oil or diesel generators could get energy from the converted plastic,' he said, adding that once a way is found to collect the Pacific plastic, he would be involved in building a recycling plant for it, possibly in Hawaii.

Project Kaisei relies on private donations and corporations, and hopes to be funded by foundations and governments as well.