MATERIALS AND APPLICATIONS
It is estimated that about 80 % of plastics that get into the oceans comes from rivers. In Italy, the floating barriers manufactured by Seads( Sea Defence Solutions) are already being used in some installations for the collection of waste flowing in rivers.
Seads barriers for the capture of plastics in rivers
RIVER POLLUTION: THE ANSWER COMES FROM ITALY
Italian technology plast / April 2025
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If Paulo Coehlo wrote about the environmental decline of our times instead of the extraordinary journeys of ordinary people,“ By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept” would make an excellent title for a work on the degradation of our planet’ s river ecosystems, especially those in heavily populated and industrialised areas. And this work would almost certainly prompt profound reflections on the less than rosy forecasts that can be blamed on today’ s thoughtless consumption and thus unsustainable exploitation of resources. The latter is a trend that, unless it is genuinely reversed, could lead to oceans containing more plastic than fish by 2050.
The oceans, as it is widely known, are already home to huge floating agglomerations of plastic waste and debris, of which the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is only the largest. These plastics do not decompose, but are fragmented into microplastics contributing to what a recent study calls a growing“ smog” of more than 170 trillion plastic particles in the ocean. Removing plastic waste from the oceans takes time, energy, and investments. But the impact would also be somewhat limited, as the researchers estimate that less than 1 % is still floating on the surface. The vast majority have probably settled on the seabed, disintegrated or been ingested by marine fauna.
www. plastmagazine. it