Great news for Mae Nam Chao Phraya river-lovers. Soon they will no longer have to pretend not to notice that the old girl has a bit of a beauty problem. She’s been breaking out in unsightly and polluting plastic and Styrofoam spots for too long. Worse, it all ends up in the ocean where it takes approx. 450 years to break down, impacting marine life and potentially human health.
But thankfully treatment is now on the way after an agreement was inked on a searingly hot Thursday 31 March 2022 between The Ocean Cleanup, a data-and research-driven non-profit organisation developing and scaling technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic, and Ecomarine, a subsidiary of ASIMAR, Thailand’s leading shipyard, that provides solutions to problems stemming from marine pollution. Under the MoU, they will import, assemble and launch an “Interceptor™” that will trap and take out the trash good and proper.
With the blessing of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, led by Mr. Varawut Silpa-archa, Minister, and Dr. Pornsri Suthanaruk, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) under the Ministry, the scientific and statistical nous of Chulalongkorn University, and The Coca-Cola Company’s global and local expediting expertise, the thoughtlessly discarded detritus will soon be coming out of the majestic waterway faster than it goes in. It may even eventually disappear altogether, restoring Mae Nam’s complexion to its natural loveliness.
An eclectic gathering of concerned parties and media within the historic and bucolic home of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Ambassador to Thailand was simultaneously privy to the announcement that The Coca-Cola Company and The Ocean Cleanup had selected the Chao Phraya as one of the first 15 rivers around the world to be part of their global implementation partnership to “stem the tide of plastic pollution entering oceans”.
The explanation for the distinguished setting is that the mission is the brain child of Dutch inventor Boyan Slat, who founded The Ocean Cleanup in 2013 at age 18 and remains its CEO and leading light at 27.
The Interceptor™ Original, essentially a solar-powered river cleaning robot that extracts floating debris, was unveiled in 2019. The project went on steroids in 2021 as The Coca-Cola Company became its first Global Implementation Partner. For its part, The Coca-Cola system in Thailand will help support development of waste management solutions for collected debris and engage industry and consumer awareness around the problem. All in line with its laudable goal to help collect and recycle every bottle and can it sells by 2030.
Now recognising great potential (read prevalent pollution) in Thailand, The Ocean Cleanup is partnering DMCR and Ecomarine to install the first of perhaps three Interceptors™ in the Chao Phraya.
DMCR, Chulalongkorn University and Ecomarine have for some time been researching how plastic pollution behaves in the river basin and how best to intercept it before it reaches the ocean, so it was not a stretch for them to come on board.
Following a virtual kick-off in February last year, the project was officially in person and virtually presented in the noble abode currently occupied by H.E. Remco van Wijngaarden, Ambassador, set amid gorgeous gardens enfolding a perfectly plastic-free lake.
“To promote ocean sustainability, we – the Netherlands – believe collaboration, collective actions and innovative solutions that prevent and mitigate detrimental impacts are essential. Today, I am pleased to see all these happening here in Thailand,” he remarked.
The deal was sealed in the presence of the Minister who mostly adlibbed an entertaining speech putting things in colourful perspective.
“Today marks another progressive stepping up of efforts to fight plastic pollution following the signing of the MoU between The Ocean Cleanup and the DMCR in February 2021. It also reflects the tangible outcome of the agreement between this Ministry and the Netherland Embassy to cooperate in the field of environmental management, climate change, and circular economy, signed 17th March 2021,” he contextualised.
Revealing that the prospect of an Interceptor™ actually being deployed was something he had been looking forward to since before “Mr. Covid” interrupted things, he also wryly noted that Thailand used to be no. 6 for the most plastic flowing into the ocean, as recorded in the World Bank’s market study for Thailand, “Plastics Circularity Opportunities and Barriers, 2020” but has since slipped to 10th worst, a gratifying demotion. The minister suggested 15 is reachable with the measures being implemented, and even 20.
The Interceptor™, which is to be deployed downstream from Bhumibol I Bridge near Lat Pho Canal next to Bang Krachao on the Samut Prakan side, will certainly help considerably but not immediately. The solar-powered marvel is due to arrive in Thailand in parts in June to be assembled, installed and rendered operational around October.
“The Ocean Cleanup’s primary mission is to rid the oceans of plastic,” clarifies Boyan. “To achieve this, we need to not only clean up what is already out there, but also stop new plastic from entering the ocean: we need to close the tap.”
“Working together with government leaders, individuals, and private corporations, our goal is to tackle the 1,000 most polluting rivers all over the world. We are therefore very grateful to have been invited to join Thailand’s plans to reduce marine plastic debris by 50% by 2027, and place an Interceptor™ Original in the Chao Phraya River.”
Boyan came to prominence in 2012 via a viral TEDTalk that has so far amassed over 3.2m views. He still spends most of his time on research and engineering, through which he has co-authored a dozen or so scientific papers and multiple patents.
Headquartered in Rotterdam, The Ocean Cleanup employs around 120. It launched the world’s first ocean cleanup system from San Francisco in 2018. The system reached proof of technology in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) in October 2021 and is in full operation. The Interceptor™ intercepts plastic in rivers.
“On behalf of Ecomarine, we are delighted and honoured to work with The Ocean Cleanup, which shares the same philosophy,” adds Suradej Tanpaibul, CEO of ASIMAR.
“Right now, beverage packaging is among the waste that can be found in oceans and waterways,” said Carlos Diaz Rigby, GM, Coca-Cola (Thailand) Limited. “This is unacceptable to us. We want to support partners and technologies that help to clean up oceans and rivers around the world, including the iconic Chao Phraya River here in Thailand.”
Meanwhile, Chulalongkorn University has entered into “a deep investigation of the mechanisms of plastic debris behaviour through all seasons.”
“Of the globally more than eight billion tonnes of plastics ever produced to date, 80% has already ended up in landfills or the environment,” said Prof. Dr. Voranop Viyakarn, Head of Department of Marine Science, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University. He added that mechanisms of seasonal plastic waste fluxes are still poorly understood but the research team is deploying monitoring cameras, releasing GPS trackers, and interviewing locals looking for answers.
Chao Phraya or bust
The stakeholder briefing by Benjamin Hargraves, Business Development Manager, The Ocean Cleanup, dove into the details of the project at hand...
Our mission is to rid the world’s oceans of plastic by developing technologies in a two-pronged approach. Firstly, to clean up the legacy – take plastic out of the ocean – and we currently have our system 002 nicknamed “Jenny”, working in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This is our Oceans Team. Secondly, to turn off the tap – prevent more plastic from entering the oceans via rivers. This is our Rivers Team which I work for as project lead for Thailand.
The project has three levels. Level I is installing and operating an Interceptor™ in the Chao Phraya [www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm1rH70wfJo]. This will have a coverage of up to 30% of the river, leaving room for traffic to pass by. Once we have sampled our catch, we will understand its plastic composition and develop a waste management solution emphasising recycling.
We also want to see how we can intercept more plastic. So Level II is investigating the canals and tributaries to the Chao Phraya. We will look at existing infrastructure and clean up efforts to see if we can assist or improve in this area.
Level III is a three-year research programme that we have entered into with Chulalongkorn University. Working closely with DMCR, this ground-breaking research builds on our other research projects in Dominican Republic and South Africa.
Together with Chulalongkorn University’s world-class team of researchers we will answer questions such as: When and how do plastics spill into the Chao Phraya River? When, how fast and how far will they be flushed downstream? Which proportion of riverine waste will reach the estuary and the Gulf of Thailand?
The World Bank recently released a report entitled Plastic Waste Material Flow Analysis in Thailand and we will also build on this valuable research.
For more information please visit: theoceancleanup.com and follow @theoceancleanup on social media.
Rivers and oceans of dreams
The Ocean Cleanup Founder & CEO, Boyan Slat, sat down with the Bangkok Post at the Royal Netherlands Embassy to fill in the background to how the movement’s war on plastic pollutants in rivers and oceans got started and flourished.
How did it all begin?
I’ve always been a bit of an inventor and passionate about technology. I started making things when I was two years old and have always had projects on the go. I started making furniture and in my teens, that progressed to building computers, explosives, and rockets.
When I was 16, I was on holiday in Greece with my family working on my scuba diving license and it struck me as I looked around that there were more plastic bags than fish. I wondered why we couldn’t just clean it up. The question stuck with me and I did a science paper on it in high school. It persisted as I started studying Aerospace Engineering at TU Delft, until I came up with an idea I thought might work and ran with it.
And the rest is history?
Not exactly. I didn’t really know what I was doing. I just sent out around 300 cold emails to a bunch of companies in the Netherlands. I got one reply basically saying it was a terrible idea and that I should go back to school. So on to Plan B, which was to do a crowdfunding campaign and that raised 90,000 euros in a month. A year later, we did it again and raised $2.2 million. So then we could really get going and hire our first people.
Did you design the equipment yourself?
That’s right. The initial concept was mine. It was a good starting point for a lot of trial and error. After six or seven evolutions, we arrived at the present designs.
What motivated you to keep going?
I suppose it’s a funny combination of being very rational and data driven and seeing that nobody else was working on a solution. So it was also a sort of ‘gap in the market’ thing that could actually be a commercial venture. Back then it was all about ‘raising awareness’. That’s a good start but it doesn’t actually solve the problem.
How is the project being funded in Thailand?
Our international funding is a combination of wealthy philanthropists and corporate partners, not least The Coca-Cola Company. We’re also hoping to get Thai sponsorship on board so we can expand the project here.
Can you give us some highlights of The Ocean Cleanup’s impact so far?
Since we were founded in 2013, it’s been a crazy journey. The first few years was mostly researching and understanding the problem. By 2015, we realised we needed to deal not only with cleaning up what’s already in the ocean, or legacy pollution, but also stop plastic in rivers ending up in the ocean. We started our work with a focus on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch which is this massive accumulation of trash in the North Pacific. In the first stage, we mapped it by criss-crossing it with 30 boats and we rented a Vietnam War era Hercules aircraft to fly across and map the bigger chunks of debris. Next came prototypes that we tried out in the North Sea and did scale model tests in basins. By 2018, we were ready to put real, big systems to work in the environment, starting with our prototype Interceptor™ in the GPBP. It managed to collect plastic, but unfortunately couldn’t retain it. Then it experienced a material failure resulting in the tail-end of the system breaking off. The environment there is very difficult to work in. You’re in the middle of the ocean in rough seas dealing with an area 38X the size of the Netherlands.
Our second ocean cleanup system did collect plastic and worked okay. It wasn’t fully scalable but it was good enough to start cleaning. Fast forward to 2021, and our latest iteration is cleaning the GPBP as we speak. Next step will be to scale up the current System 002 to a three-times larger version (System 003) that will become the blueprint for an entire fleet of ocean cleanup systems. As for the GPBP, our goal is to clean 50% of it every five years which will give us a roughly 80% reduction by the end of the decade.
How does the Interceptor™ Original work?
It’s a fully automated device moored in a river comprising a barge with an extended boom which traps plastic and moves it along to a conveyor belt that moves the garbage into a dumper. Once that’s full, with roughly 50 cubic metres of trash, its dislocated and brought to the key side where the plastic is sorted. All that is fully powered by the sun. It also looks pretty cool.
The problem is still growing faster than you can sweep it up?
That’s right, so we’re going to have to accelerate things. Currently, we’re active in eight rivers but 1,000 rivers worldwide do 80% of the damage and we want to get on top of that. This year, we’ll be deploying in Los Angeles County, a bunch more in Central America and Jamaica and of course Thailand and a few other countries.
Who are the worst polluters?
Basically, there are three phases of plastic pollution. In countries at lower levels of development, you don’t see much of it because people aren’t consuming a lot of plastic packaged products. Unfortunately, as people get wealthier, plastic comes into the picture before the waste infrastructure is in place. The most packaging per capita is being consumed in the middle and upper-middle income countries. Then as they become developed, they put in place measures to contain and counter the problem. So there’s kind of a bump you have to go over.
How does cleaning up the rivers clean up the oceans?
The good news is that coastal waters basically clean themselves. The problem there is that the stuff gets trapped by currents and just stays there. Most of the rubbish that comes from the rivers turns up on a beach within a couple of weeks. In the GPGP, you find objects that have been there for up to 60 years. Once you’ve tackled the garbage patches and closed the tap you just have to clean the beaches and eventually there won’t be any more plastic floating around coastal waters.
Do you work with other NGOs?
Yes, we have relations with other NGOs. We encourage everyone who wants to solve this problem to work on it. There are bound to be more entities trying to stop plastic polluting rivers. In Indonesia, there are already a few and I can very much imagine that we would work with them. We’re good with the science, data and technology and we can support them with that. A good example of this is our involvement in the Clean Currents Coalition, a project from the Benioff Ocean Initiative [cleancurrentscoalition.org], where our efforts in Jamaica are one of a total of nine river projects. Meanwhile, UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) is running our operations in the Dominican Republic, for example. We know we can’t do this alone. We need many partners not only for funding but for further project execution.
What are your plans for Thailand beyond this particular operation?
Thailand has 33 rivers in the top 1,000 plastic polluters globally. We’re already deployed on a branch of the Mekong River. However, these very wide rivers are not the hotspots of plastic pollution. The hotspots are shorter rivers in densely urbanised coastal locations. We also see rivers in Phuket needing work. But first of all, we’ve got to make a success of our Chao Phraya project and that is going to require more than one Interceptor™.
In general terms, we’re continuing to look for collaborations. We have several existing very good initiatives that we are looking to scale. We’re also developing more technology to try and increase the catch. It’s all about making sure this thing really takes off.
