Boyan Slat wants to rid the Pacific Ocean of half of its plastic waste by 2025. To do so, the 20-year-old and his nonprofit company Ocean Cleanup have designed a simple yet effective floating barrier that will allow the ocean to clean itself. Unlike nets—which sea life can become entangled in—the barriers will skim the surface of the water as ocean currents pass below it, capturing plastic debris in its large V-shaped structure for easy disposal. A 6,500 ft barrier has already been given approval to test the waters near Japan’s Nagasaki prefecture in 2016.
