Move to rid oceans of tons of plastic waste through cutting-edge technology
MAPPING, trapping, collecting, processing, testing, modelling and engaging pollution in the Umgeni River is the strategy of the University of KwaZulu-Natal that has teamed up with The Ocean Cleanup – a Dutch non-profit organisation developing advanced technologies to rid the oceans of plastic.
“How many plastic items have you used today already? Are you possibly using one just now? The answers are very likely ‘many’ and ‘yes’,” said South African Research Chair (SARChI) for Waste and Climate Change, Professor Cristina Trois, lead investigator on the project along with colleague Dr Thomas Mani from The Ocean Cleanup.
Today, more than 400 million tons of plastic products are purchased every year worldwide. Of the total of over 8 billion tons of plastics ever produced to date, a staggering 80% has already ended up in landfills or the environment. Once lost, plastics will fragment into smaller pieces – microplastics (<5 mm) – posing a threat to ingesting organisms.
Rivers are believed to be major pathways for plastic waste on land to reach the oceans.
Together, UKZN and The Ocean Cleanup research department are embarking on a three-year research project until 2024 to map plastic pollution hot spots and monitor plastic fluxes in the Umgeni River catchment as well as on the coastline of the Indian Ocean around Durban.
“From the belief that you need to understand a problem to be able
to truly solve it, The Ocean Cleanup pursues a strong research emphasis in line with its mission to rid the world’s oceans of plastic by deploying mechanical clean-up devices in the offshore ocean as well as in rivers,” said Mani.
With the use of satellite imagery, aircraft and drones, river cameras, floating GPS trackers, “litter-boom” waste characterisation, underwater sampling and beach litter characterisation, the research partnership is specifically seeking new insight into the seasonal dynamics of plastic waste transport through the Umgeni River system and provide a replicable model for cities in the West Indian Ocean
region. To launch the research voyage, a workshop was held between all involved stakeholders including UKZN, The Ocean Cleanup, the national Department of Science and Innovation through the RDI (Research Development and Innovation) Waste Roadmap, eThekwini Municipality, The Bateleurs, Durban Green Corridors, and Sustainable Seas Trust.
A team from The Ocean Cleanup, including Mani, joined UKZN researchers for the initial mapping flight over the Umgeni River catchment on May 27 with a light airplane provided by The Bateleurs, a non-profit group of volunteer pilots who avail their aircraft for conservation causes.