‘Little trap’ a success blocking trash from the sea

By The Nation

 

Twenty buoy-strung “litter traps” to be anchored at the mouths of rivers and canals along the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Thailand coast are expected to prevent 30 tonnes of trash reaching the sea every year.

 

Jatuporn Burutpat, chief of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, said four such traps tested in canals in Samut Songkram were each catching 7.7 kilograms of garbage per day.

 

Five more will be set at the mouth of the Rayong River and Samut Sakhon canals in July, he said. Thailand has at least 900 canals connected to the sea, Jatuporn said.

 

The litter trap developed by the department and SCG Chemicals could help turn around Thailand’s reputation – from being ranked sixth among countries releasing the most garbage into the sea to an innovator working to halt the spillage.  

 

SCG Chemicals president Chonlanat Yanaranop called the prototype’s research and development a fine example of cooperation between the public and private sectors in finding a sustainable solution to the issue of seaborne garbage.

 

The prototype is a 1.8-by-5-metre cargo bed made of PE100 pipe and netting with gates that open and close to entrap trash. Each can hold up to 700kg of trash.  

 

Chonlanat said the trap would be developed further so that it operates automatically and is powered by solar energy. He expected that model to be ready for testing early next year.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30371707

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-06-25

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Who empties them?

8 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

Who empties them?

 

Ah! A hole in the cunning plan.

Also tested during storms and waves? it looks like build by children.

19 minutes ago, RotMahKid said:

Also tested during storms and waves? it looks like build by children.

I wouldn't deny that, it doesn't look very sturdy. However, I would have assumed that they would be aware of The Ocean Cleanup, which looks similar, but is having phenomenal success so far:

https://theoceancleanup.com/

 

1 hour ago, bluesofa said:

I wouldn't deny that, it doesn't look very sturdy. However, I would have assumed that they would be aware of The Ocean Cleanup, which looks similar, but is having phenomenal success so far:

https://theoceancleanup.com/

 

Yes right, I know them, they started some years ago at the Delft University in the Netherlands and it's grow the a full company now.

I've seen basic versions of this on the sides of canals here years ago. Basically three bamboos tied in the canal, one parallel to the shore the others hinged so they open in the direction of the water flow. When the upstream one opens the downstream one closes and catches all the rubbish...I assumed this was done by folks harvesting the waste to sell for recycling....hardly a newly developed invention...

On ‎6‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 12:43 AM, VocalNeal said:

Who empties them?

They load them on a barge and then dump that out in the sea out of sight of the land