Boyan Slat, born in 1994 in the Netherlands, has devoted his time and energy to investigating how to clean up plastic pollution in the oceans since he was 16. He quit his Aerospace Engineering studies at TU Delft University to be able to work full-time on bringing his ideas to life. In 2013 he founded The Ocean Cleanup, a foundation that develops technologies to extract plastic pollution from the oceans and prevent more plastic debris from entering them.
Read MoreThe problems with plastic pollution are getting worse by the day. The estimated 8 million tons (yes, really) of plastic that ends up in the ocean every year is expected to double by 2025 and is estimated to rise to 60 tons per minute by 2050 if today's plastic use and lack of adequate waste management continues. These vast amounts of plastic have increasing impact on the environment and marine life.
Read MoreNot only are plastics an issue for our health, they also pose problems when they´re disposed of. In Europe almost 30 % of plastics are recycled and almost 40% are used in energy recovery processes, leaving more than 30% to go to landfills. In the US these numbers are almost 10% for recycling, 15% for energy recovery and 75% for landfills. According to the United Nations Environmental Program, between 22 percent and 43 percent of the plastic used worldwide is disposed of in landfills.
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