Genius Guy Invents Solar-Powered Barges That Can Clean Rivers

• Boyan Slat, an engineer and conservationist, boasted his newest invention called “The Inceptors”- which can collect 110 tons of trash in just a few hours.
• The 25-year-old guy announced his brilliant idea over a Ted Talk in 2012 and promised to invent a technology that can collect plastic waste, debris or garbage from the most polluted rivers around the world.
• He also shared how his non-profit organization, The Ocean Cleanup, plans to reach many countries.

Remember this kid back in 2012? He gave a message on Ted Talk back then and discussed about how he plans to clean all the rivers around the world before 2025 through modern technology.

Well, he “saw, he came, and he conquered.”

Boyan Slat of Netherlands recently unveiled his newest invention – solar powered barges that can collect plastic in rivers. Just two years ago, he founded a non-profit organization named The Ocean Cleanup in the hopes of using technology to clean the Great Pacific Garbage Patch which expands from California to Japan.

When he established the organization, he created a “passive floating device” to collect plastic waste materials from the ocean. However, Slat felt like the garbage being collected were not enough and so he worked harder and created the solar powered barges called “Inceptors.”

“Our team has remained steadfast in its determination to solve immense technical challenges to arrive at this point,” Slat said.

What Inceptors do

The solar-powered barges suck river debris into the dumpsters then bring the collected waste materials onshore for recycling. One barge can collect up to 110 tons of trash, significantly reducing the amount of plastic waste n our waters,

Slat dreams of using Inceptor badges in every one of the worst polluted rivers globally by 2025.

“Though we still have much more work to do, I am eternally grateful for the team’s commitment and dedication to the mission and look forward to continuing to the next phase of development,” he said.

Watch the video of their Ocean Cleanup campaign in Klang River in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and the Cengkareng Drain in Jakarta, Indonesia.

When he was 16 years old, Slat was dismayed when he went diving in Greece and saw more plastic than sea creatures in the coastal waters. He then promised himself that he was going to do something about the problem.

Citizens of any country can nominate their rivers for clean-up missions by encouraging their local governments to support Ocean Cleanup’s efforts. 

You can also donate funds to help build the team more Inceptors.

Watch how he and his team put up its prototype: