ASSIGNMENT 2: SUMMARY READER RESPONSE: OCEAN CLEANUP MACHINE FINAL DRAFT[Edited]

In the article, “Boy Genius Boyan Slat’s Giant Ocean Cleanup Machine Is Real,” Schiller(2017) explores the potential of Boyan Slats’ recent innovation. Slat claims to radically improve the condition of the Pacific Garbage Patch and projects to remove 50% of the plastic waste within the next five years. The article mentions Slat’s design functioning as an “artificial coastline” utilizing current to gather and entrap waste for convenient disposal. With the prototype for his former design failing due to the brutal ocean conditions, Slat was able to learn from and improve his device. The new model replaces the use of foundations with anchors situated in the deep-sea layer to slow down the boom and facilitate entrapment. Slat claims that the revised system will be more robust, affordable, and scalable. He also envisages collected debris to weigh in the “tens of thousands of tons” every year. In a bid to substantiate his colossal claims for trash removal, Slat has purportedly done extensive simulations on the interaction of marine devices and trash in their natural environment.

The article by Schiller mentions the commendable effort by Slat to improve the existing device's effectiveness and mainly covered the advantages of Slat's new device. However, in a review of other materials related to Slat's ocean cleanup, it becomes clear that Slat's device has issues that could be addressed to improve the effectiveness of his device to combat oceanic pollution.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme(n.d.), an estimated 8 million tons of plastic waste ends up in the oceans every year, with ten identified rivers spewing out more than 90% of the plastic waste. These values exceed the projected waste removal for Slat's device by 800% annually. Additionally, Gabetti (as cited in Fairs, 2019) highlighted the difficulty of Slat's system to transport the plastic waste from the middle of the ocean back to shore. Due to the geological location for the collection of waste, large consumption of fuel to run the vessels ferrying waste for safe disposal is also expected. These issues could have been avoided if the device was developed to contain and trap debris at the rivers rather than out at deep sea.

Additionally, Slat's design fails to take into account the damage that plastic waste could do to marine ecosystems while traveling from the rivers to the Pacific Garbage Patch.

In an article, Sebille(as cited in Kratochwill, 2016) concluded that plastic waste could float in the sea for up to 50 years before finally reaching the Garbage Patch. With that in mind, the 8 million tons of plastic waste that went unaddressed by Slat’s system could negatively affect marine ecosystems for up to 50 years before eventually being addressed. According to statistics from another article, Fox(2010) reports that some of the everyday items commonly found as oceanic plastic waste will break down to microplastics in less than 50 years. The plastic waste could have been dealt with more thoroughly if Slat's device was targeted to address the source of oceanic pollution.


Due to Slat’s possible oversight in identifying and addressing the plastic waste at its source, the volume of microplastics in the ocean is expected to rise, complicating future cleanup attempts.

Lastly, Slat's design was not engineered well enough


  could have utilized a better design thinking framework to ensure the feasibility of his endeavor. The article “System 001 learnings - Root causes summarized”(2019) highlights the inability of Slat’s system to retain plastic waste and the subsequent failure of his device four months later during its operation in the open sea. Despite having completed “hundreds of model tests and a series of nearshore prototypes”, Slat was unable to develop a functioning system to remove plastic waste from the ocean. In my opinion, Slat could have avoided this if he started with a robust design thinking framework. More specifically, an intensive framework for identifying the contributing factors to the pollution out at sea, which in turn contributes to the development of an effective solution to the problem. This framework would have helped Slat realize the inadequacy of his proposed solution to combat oceanic plastic waste, thereby preventing the wastage of resources on an unrealistic endeavor.

Although Slat was ultimately able to correct the mechanical problems plaguing his initial design, he fails to address the plastic waste pollution in the ocean logically and effectively. His glaring oversight in identifying and addressing these evident issues hints at the possibility of his project being an avenue to seek self-glorification rather than a genuine attempt to save the ocean.

[Para 1]
Owing to a possible lapse in judgment when identifying and addressing the contributing factors of marine plastic waste. 

Reference:


Fox, C. (2010). Trash Travels: From Our Hands to the Sea, Around the Globe, and Through Time.
Retrieved February 9, 2020 from Ocean Conservancy:
https://oceanconservancy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/2010-Ocean-Conservancy-ICC-Report.pdf


Mr. Trash Wheel. (n.d.) Home.
Retrieved February 9, 2020 from
https://www.mrtrashwheel.com/


Schiller, B. (2011). Boy Genius Boyan Slat’s Giant Ocean Clean up Machine is Real.
Fast Company.
Retrieved January 30, 2020 from
https://www.fastcompany.com/40419899/boy-genius-boyan-slats-giant-ocean-cleanup-machine-is-real


The Ocean Cleanup. (2019). System 001 Learnings - Root Causes Summarized: Updates.
Retrieved February 9, 2020 from
https://theoceancleanup.com/updates/system-001-learnings-root-causes-summarized/


Kratochwill, L. (2016). Too good to be true? The Ocean Cleanup Project faces feasibility questions
theguardian.com
Retrieved February 9, 2020 from
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/26/ocean-cleanup-project-environment-pollution-boyan-slat

UN Environment. (n.d.). Our planet is drowning in plastic pollution. This World Environment Day, it’s time for a change.
Retrieved February 9, 2020 from
https://www.unenvironment.org/interactive/beat-plastic-pollution/


Venema, V. (2014). The Dutch boy mopping up a sea of plastic.
BBC.com
Retrieved February 9, 2020 from
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29631332




Edited 07/03/20.
Edited 13/03/20.
Edited 27/03/20