A Dutch NGO Ship Will Collect 50 Tonnes of Plastic from the Ocean per Day

The Dutch non-governmental organization Ocean Cleanup, which fights pollution of the oceans with plastic, has unveiled its latest invention - a barge that collects waste, the Associated Press and France Press reported.

"The Interceptar Barge will close the tap of the largest source of pollution of the oceans and seas," 25-year-old Boyan Slat, who invented it, told a news conference in Rotterdam.

The barge can collect up to 50 tonnes of garbage a day in polluted ponds.

"We think that under favorable conditions, the garbage collected can be twice as large," Slat noted.

The barge is 24 meters long and operates with solar energy, its movement is completely autonomous. The waste is collected in containers that are emptied and then returned to the barge. "Interceptar can collect plastic waste 24 hours a day," assured Slate, who is also the founder and head of the organization.

Three such barges are already in use in Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, and a fourth will soon come into use in the Dominican Republic.