“Bubble Barrier” Helping Tackle Canal Plastic “气泡屏障”帮助处理运河塑料垃圾

A Dutch start-up has teamed up with the municipality of Amsterdam and the regional water authority to launch a project called the Great Bubble Barrier. The aim is to help remove plastic from the citys waterways.

The barrier is a perforated tube that was placed on the bottom of a canal or river. Compressors pump air through the holes， creating bubbles that float the waste.

The tube is placed diagonally to allow the natural current to move the waste to one side of the canal or river， where its caught by a floating platform.

A wall of bubbles can intercept plastic in waterways without interfering with boats and marine wildlife. Tests of a prototype in the River IJssel in the Netherlands found it stopped 86% of plastic waste on average.

Each year， Amsterdams garbage boats remove around 42，000 kg of plastic waste from the citys waterways. But the boats can only pick up the plastic waste on the surface. They also miss some smaller pieces.

The company hoped the barrier will capture waste deeper in the water as well as smaller pieces of plastic the garbage boats cant pick up.

Each year， at least 8 million tons of plastic ends up in the ocean—roughly one garbage truckload every minute.

Another Dutch group has also launched a project to collect surface-level river waste using floating barriers.

Francis Zoet is the technical director of the Great Bubble Barrier project. She said， “We support every initiative that is focused on reducing the plastic in the ocean.”

一家荷兰初创公司与阿姆斯特丹市政府和该市的水务局合作，推出“大气泡屏障”项目，目的是帮助清理该城市河道中的塑料垃圾。

这个“屏障”就是铺设在运河或河流底部的多孔管道。压缩机通过这些孔向管道注入空气，形成“气泡屏障”，使运河或河流底部的垃圾漂浮起来。

管道以一定的角度铺设，因此，水流可以将垃圾推送到运河或河流的一侧，在那里通过浮动平台将垃圾收集起来。

“气泡屏障”能捕获河道中的塑料垃圾，但不会妨碍船只和水生物。此前该公司在荷兰的艾瑟尔河上对模型进行了测试，发现该模型平均可捕获86%的塑料垃圾。

阿姆斯特丹的垃圾收集船每年能从该市的河道中收集约42吨的塑料垃圾。但是，这些船只能收集河道表面的塑料垃圾，它们也捕获不到一些小块的塑料垃圾。

該公司希望这种屏障能捕获垃圾收集船无法捕获的河道深处的垃圾和较小的塑料垃圾颗粒。

每年至少有800万吨塑料垃圾进入海洋，这相当于每分钟都有一辆装满塑料的垃圾车向海中倾倒垃圾。

另一家荷兰机构也启动了使用浮动屏障收集河道表面垃圾的项目。

弗朗西斯·佐特是“大气泡屏障”项目的技术总监。她说：“我们支持各种旨在减少海洋塑料垃圾的举措。”

launch /l??nt?/ v. 发起，发动

pump /p?mp/ v. 用泵输送

The heart pumps blood around the body.

diagonally /da?'?ɡ?n?li/ adv. 对角线地;斜地

intercept /'?nt?'sept/ v. 拦截;拦阻

Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave the hotel.

interfere /'?nt?'f??（r）/ v. 妨碍;干扰

She never allows her personal feelings to interfere with her work.

capture /'k?pt??（r）/ v. 捕获

The animals are captured in nets and sold to local zoos.

initiative /?'n???t?v/ n. 对策;举措