Nonprofit launches plastic interceptor technology in heavily polluted river, diverting thousands of pieces of trash: ‘It’s very important to us’

The global nonprofit organization The Ocean Cleanup deployed its innovative river cleanup technology, called the Interceptor Original, in one of Bangkok’s most polluted rivers earlier this year.

Since 2013, the nonprofit has been on a mission to clean up plastic pollution clogging the world’s oceans and rivers, and it has developed a family of technology solutions to accomplish this task.

According to its website, the plastic Interceptor was launched in 2019 and has removed over three million kilograms (over 6.6 million pounds) of trash from rivers worldwide to date.

The plastic gobbling hero has been deployed in six locations around the world: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Dominican Republic, Vietnam, the United States, and Thailand, with the latter being the latest installation.

Phys.org reported that The Ocean Cleanup set up its interceptor in Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River, marking the nonprofit’s fifth plastic pollution cleanup project in Southeast Asia.

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The Interceptor — a barge-like machine that runs entirely on solar power — uses a floating barrier to funnel plastic onto the catamaran’s conveyor belt. The plastic waste is then sent into one of six large dumpsters inside the shuttle. Once full, the bins are brought ashore, emptied into garbage trucks, and disposed of by local waste management companies.

Sensors installed in the interceptor alert local operators when the bins have almost reached capacity so they know exactly when to collect the waste. The technology runs 24/7 and can remove debris from the river even while the dumpsters are being emptied.

Because the Interceptor is autonomous and can hold up to 50 cubic meters (over 13,200 gallons) of waste, it’s an ideal solution for eliminating pervasive plastic trash and restoring riverine ecosystems — both for people and the planet.

“The Gulf of Thailand is, of course, very important ecologically, but also economically for tourism and fisheries. It’s very important to us to tackle this plastic pollution here,” CEO of The Ocean Cleanup Boyan Slat told Agence France-Presse news.

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Because rivers are the origin of most ocean plastic pollution, according to the nonprofit, the idea is to intercept waste at its source so it doesn’t enter the oceans in the first place. The Ocean Cleanup’s research indicates that 1,000 rivers are responsible for around 80% of all riverine pollution.

To prevent as much plastic from making its way to oceans as possible, the nonprofit set a lofty goal of removing plastic waste from all these rivers by collaborating with governments and corporations worldwide.

Combined with its efforts to eliminate 90% of floating ocean plastic pollution by 2040, The Ocean Cleanup is solving a planet-sized problem, one piece of plastic trash at a time.

“We are excited to begin this collaborative multi-year project to clean the Chao Phraya and prevent tons of plastic leaking into the Gulf of Thailand. Alongside cleaning the garbage patches in the ocean, intercepting in rivers is the key to ridding the oceans of plastic – and Interceptor 019 in Thailand is the next step towards that goal,” the nonprofit said in a project update.