Plastic Busters is the name of the plastic-eating boat that will go around the Mediterranean to clean it from the plastics dispersed in the waters. The project was presented today by the University of Siena at the Certosa di Pontignano, on the occasion of the international conference First Siena Solutions Conference Sustainable Development for the Mediterranean Region, dedicated to sustainability and promoted within the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
Is called Plastic Busters the plastic-eating boat that will go around the Mediterranean to clean it of waste dispersed in the waters. The project was presented today by the University of Siena at the Certosa di Pontignano, on the occasion of the international conference First Siena Solutions Conference Sustainable Development for the Mediterranean Region, dedicated to sustainability and promoted within the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
The problem of plastic in the sea also looms over the Mare Nostrum. A recent study conducted byUniversity of Pisa and Ispra, showed that in the Tyrrhenian Sea, 80% of waste is made up of plastic.
How can I clean it up? With the ecological boat that will go around the Mediterranean to “catch” the plastics, map their diffusion and at the same time study the effects on animals. Directed by prof. Maria Cristina Fossi of the Department of Physical, Earth and Environmental Sciences of the University of Siena, the "Plastic Busters" project has already obtained the adhesion of 30 research bodies and international institutions and makes use of analysis tools and procedures validated in numerous marine animal health monitoring campaigns.
The goal is to make a complete “photograph” of the macro and microplastics poured into the Mediterranean, with their negative consequences on the marine environment and on the health of the animals that populate it. The Mediterranean, being closed and densely populated, is in fact one of the most contaminated by plastic in the world.
The tour of the laboratory boat. The eco-sustainable boat will travel from Tuscany to Gibraltar, then sail to Tunisia, Egypt, Greece. After three months of navigation, you will go up the Adriatic until you reach Venice. On board, an international team of researchers will carry out water sampling and some eco-toxicological analyzes, will check the state of health of the "sentinel" species: the whales, sharks and turtles, animals that suffer the damage of plastic pollution par excellence.
Not surprisingly these animals. These creatures, in spite of themselves, swallow large quantities of plastic during their lifetime. To give an idea, up to 143 fragments of different plastics were found in the stomach of a turtle.
During the conference, other solutions were also presented, but not only related to the sea. In addition to the eco-materials that preserve the seabed, also noteworthy are the solar panels of rural Palestinian areas and the roofs that remain cold and fight global warming.
Francesca Mancuso
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