Tweens help solve world's plastic waste problem
Proposed ocean clean-up process would generate clean energy, provide building materials for floating islands, and eliminate hazardous chemicals
March 29, 2014 - Ethan Heyns and Kol Greenbaum were recognized at the Atlanta Science Festival Exploration Expo for their efforts to raise awareness on the use of plasma arc technology to process plastics collected from the world's oceans.
Placing first out of over 100 entries in the 2014 Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) WebChallenge, Team PlasmaTech received $700 scholarships and a visit to Google's Atlanta office. They will be continuing to develop their programming skills this summer at Kennesaw State University and Georgia Tech mobile app development courses.
"Our project started as an effort to get local restaurants to stop using styrofoam, then we realized it was possible to convert styrofoam back into raw materials and clean fuel by using plasma arc technologies," reported Atlanta middle school student Ethan Heyns.
Building on research led by teenager Boyan Slat, Atlanta "tweenagers" Kol and Ethan are proposing a complimentary solution for processing reclaimed plastics using InEnTec's Plasma Enhanced Melter (PEM)® technology to output syngas fuel and building materials, while eliminating hazardous chemicals, such as PCBs and DDTs, which are absorbed by plastics at sea.
Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School (ANCS) sixth graders Ethan Heyns and Kol Greenbaum learned scripting using Khan Academy in instructor Michael Boardman's afterschool Robotics Club.
"Plastics — when they end up in the ocean — are a sponge for chemicals already out there," says researcher Chelsea Rochman. "We found that when the plastic interacts with the juices in the [fish's] stomach, the chemicals come off of plastic and are transferred into the bloodstream or tissue." The fish on the marine plastic diet were more likely to have tumors and liver problems. - Full NPR Story
In the meantime, don't give up on getting restaurants to stop using styrofoam to help protect our local streams. And join us in our broader efforts to promote cleaner oceans so the seafood you enjoy has fewer tumors and liver problems. Please contribute to Boyan Slat's research if our project inspired you to think a little differently about reclaiming plastics at sea.
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