AWARD YEAR
2021
CATEGORY
Community
GOALS
Clean Water & Sanitation, Climate Action, Life Below Water
KEYWORDS
Clean Water, Plastic pollution , river, Zero pollution, Clean Energy
COUNTRY
Netherlands
DESIGNED BY
The Ocean Cleanup
WEBSITE
https://theoceancleanup.com/rivers/
The Interceptor
River plastic pollution collector, 100% solar power, that can extract 50,000 kilograms plastic a day
Rivers are the main source of ocean plastic pollution. They are the arteries that carry waste from land to the ocean. Our research found that 1000 rivers are responsible for roughly 80% of the pollution. The Interceptor is The Ocean Cleanup’s answer for river plastic waste. It is the first scalable solution to prevent plastic from entering the world’s oceans from rivers.
It is 100% solar-powered, extracts plastic autonomously, and is capable of operating in the majority of the world’s most polluting rivers. River waste flowing with the current is guided by the barrier towards the opening of the Interceptor. Thanks to the Interceptor’s catamaran design, the water flow path is optimized to pass through the system, carrying the plastic onto the conveyor belt. The Interceptor can extract 50,000 kilograms of plastic per day. The Interceptors are internet-connected, allowing us to gather continuous performance and automatically notify local operators once the dumpsters are full.