A massive floating unit created to clean up the Pacific Ocean breaks down
Ocean Cleanup System 001, a U-shaped floating barrier made by the organization The Ocean Cleanup, arrived in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in October.
After several months at sea, it was decided that the system failed to keep plastic, the organization announced earlier in December.
Now, a 60-foot section of the unit has destroyed the system, the organization announced on December 29. The entire floating system, along with over 4,400 pounds of plastic it has restored, is brought back to shore.
Slat told CNN earlier this year that the note contained an estimated 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic, weighing 80,000 tons.
Joost Dubois, Communications Officer at The Ocean Cleanup, told CNN in September that the system is expected to recover 50 tonnes of plastic from the ocean each year.
During a regular inspection on December 29th the day an Ocean Cleanup team that the part of the system was detached.
"It is important to note that both the main parts at 580 meters and the 18 meter long section are both completely stable, all the bulkheads are intact and the end piece has two stabilizers attached to it, so it is not possible to transfer, Slat in the blog post. "Also, because there was no material lost, there has been no security risk for the crew, environment or passing marine traffic."
The company investigates the cause of the breach and believes the system will be operational this year. [19659005]
Problems with plastic collection
Earlier in December, the organization said that the system concentrates the plastic, but it is not able to hold onto it.
"Finally, the only way to really see how the system was The organization said it is working to identify the cause, one of the possible problems is that the system is not moving fast.
"It seems that the system sometimes moves slower than the plastic, giving the captured plastic the opportunity to leave the system again."
The organization also said that the system, which they called Wilson, creates an effect on the flow, as it interacts with water, resulting in small plastic bottles moving and accumulating around the system.
The organization has also observed that the system creates waves, possibly preventing plastic from entering the mouth of the device.
"We will continue to test and monitor the system until we feel confident about making any changes, if necessary, which will then be used in a later shift," said the organization. "We are confident that these tests will teach us more about Wilson's current status, which hopefully allows us to fully operate the clean-up system."
Some critics questioned the ambitious offshore clean-up system, even before reaching the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Miriam Goldstein, Director of Marine Policy at the US Progress Center, says the use of a unit of that size will create its own environment and marine life will grow on it or below it.
Goldstein also asked the effort to collect plastic in the middle of the ocean instead of focusing on stopping the waste from reaching the ocean in the first place.
Correction: An earlier version of this story erroneously describes the size of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
CNN's Dave Alsup contributed to this report.
