Plastic Soup Foundation
  • The issue
      • Plastic Soup
      • What is plastic?
      • Plastic in the environment
      • Harm to animals
      • Health effects
      • Regulations
      • Bogus solutions
      • Responsibilities
      • Sustainable development
      • Facts & Figures
  • What we do
      • Health
      • Microplastics
      • Education
      • Plastic Waste
      • Other Projects
  • What you can do
      • As a consumer
      • As an organization
      • As a school
  • Solutions
  • News
  • Donate
  • NL
  • EN
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
You are here: News Research on the catch by the bubble barrier has started

Research on the catch by the bubble barrier has started

23 September 2020

Research into the capture of the Bubble Barrier in the Westerdok in Amsterdam has started. The Bubble Barrier is an air bubble screen developed by The Great Bubble Barrier. It extracts plastic from the Amsterdam canals and thus prevents canal plastic from flowing into the North Sea. Plastic Soup Foundation will research this captured canal plastic on behalf of Waterschap Amstel, Gooi and Vecht.

The plastic that is removed from the water by the Bubble Barrier contains a wealth of information. Plastic Soup Foundation will investigate how much plastic is captured; which items are involved; which brands are common and if the waste can be traced back to the source. Important information to prevent plastic waste in the canals in the future. For example, by talking to producers about alternatives to disposable plastic packaging and a quick introduction of deposits on cans. A ban on certain disposable products and switching to sustainable packaging contributes to the fight against plastic soup.

Why this research?

With the Bubble Barrier as a new tool, Waterschap Amstel, Gooi and Vecht, in collaboration with Amsterdam Plastic Smart City (a program of the municipality of Amsterdam), is looking for a solution for the floating plastic and smaller plastic waste that remains behind in the canal water despite the drijfvuilvissen. The parties involved would like to know how much waste the Bubble Barrier collects on average and what kind of products end up in the collection system. The trial period with the Bubble Barrier lasts three years. The research is aimed at collecting information about the functioning of the Bubble Barrier, and to find out whether a Bubble Barrier should be placed at multiple locations.

Sander Mager, director at Waterschap Amstel, Gooi and Vecht: “plastic in our water is an increasing problem. Also for the work of the water board. It has major effects on the quality of our water, and on everything that lives in or near the water. Precisely for that reason, the water board must cooperate reasonably with others, to make a fist against this huge problem. The Bubble Barrier is an excellent example of this.

Capture leads to solution at the source

The research will map out which waste ends up in the water most often and from which producers or sectors these products originate. In this way, the problem can be tackled at the source, for example, by talking to producers about alternatives to disposable plastic packaging and a rapid introduction of deposits on cans. A ban on certain disposable products and switching to sustainable packaging contributes to the fight against plastic soup.

What does the research look like?

For over a year, with the help of volunteers, waste collected by the Bubble Barrier is dried, sorted and analyzed. The waste is sorted and divided into groups from the so-called OSPAR methodology. The OSPAR methodology has more than 100 groups. Sorting and categorizing provides a wealth of information. We find out how well the Bubble Barrier works and get a good picture of the many sources and forms of plastic pollution and the differences per season.

Coronavirus

Due to the measures taken because of the coronavirus, sorting and research could not be started for a long time. The collected waste has been kept separate for several months now. For a while, there have been very few people in the public space and also large public events such as King’s Day and The Pride got cancelled. Probably these particular influences can also be seen in the research of the collected waste. During the investigation, measures are taken to prevent possible contamination with the coronavirus.

Read more about the Bubble Barrier in the Westerdok.

Photo by: Cynthia van Elk

MAYBE YOU’RE INTERESTED IN IT TOO:

  • Bubble screen a technological breakthrough in battle against the plastic soup
  • Great Bubble Barrier
  • Call to Tampax goes viral: ‘make all menstrual products plastic-free’

Search

Categories

  • News (509)
  • What can you do? (13)
  • Health Files (38)
  • Clean rivers (24)
  • Plastic soupermarket (2)
  • Trash hunters (48)
  • What is plastic soup? (12)
  • What to do with plastic waste? (11)
  • Types of plastic (3)
  • Press releases (16)
  • Beat the microbead (16)
  • Solutions (10)
  • Don't use balloons (3)
  • Gezondheidseffecten (56)
  • Animal cruelty (13)
  • sponsoring campaign (1)
  • Microbeads (26)
  • Sponsor actions (3)
  • Ocean Clean Wash (12)
  • About us (1)
  • Plastic Urban Mining (4)
  • Blogs (16)
  • My little plastic footprint (4)
  • Plastic Soup Awards (3)
  • Synthetic fibers (19)
  • Political plume (3)
  • actions frontpage (1)
  • nurdles (5)
  • Pressreleases (2)
  • Microplastics in cosmetics (1)
  • Junior (1)
  • No category (1)

Subscribe to our newsletter

and stay informed about our activities!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Donate now and contribute

I'll donate € 5I'll donate € 10I'll donate € 15Other amount

More news

Tonnes of invisible nanoplastics in the Wadden Sea

Pioneering research suggests the scale of invisible nanoplastics in the Wadden Sea, and points to the potential dangers for marine life.

Read more

Mea culpa from Ocean Conservancy for its influential 2015 report. Who will be next?

Industry can no longer deny adding to the plastic soup. Apologies are now being given for a report dating from 2015

Read more

€3bn INEOS plastics project finally faces court action

ClientEarth has taken the Flemish authorities to court to block petrochemicals giant INEOS’ plastics project.

Read more

Less plastic = less dependence on fossil fuels

Level one of the gas crisis issued. To be less dependent on fossil fuels, we can also use less plastic.

Read more

About us

  • Frontrunners
  • Mission & Vision
  • Our People
  • Working with Us
  • Annual Reports
  • Inquiries Press
  • Newsletter

Our approach

  • Plastic Soup Angels
  • Funds & Partners
  • Ambassadors
  • Plastic Soup Awards
  • Plastic Soup Atlas
  • Facts & Figures
DONATE
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • LinkedIn

  • YouTube

  • Contact

 

© Copyright - Plastic Soup Foundation
  • Contact
  • Privacy policy
  • GDPR Consent Settings
Compostable tea bags and coffee pods become new standardScientific bundle on plastic nanofibers and microfibers
Scroll to top

GDPR settings

This website uses some cookies which are placed on your device. Your web browser stores these cookies when you visit our Website: www.plasticsoupfoundation.org. These cookies will be retrieved when you visit or use our Website again. This allows us to recognise you as a previous visitor/user.

Privacy policy
Close

Your privacy and this website...

This website uses some cookies which are placed on your device. Your web browser stores these cookies when you visit our Website: www.plasticsoupfoundation.org. These cookies will be retrieved when you visit or use our Website again. This allows us to recognise you as a previous visitor/user.

Functional technology enables a website to remember information that changes the way the website behaves or looks, like your preferred language or the region that you are in. No personalised information is collected.

See details

This consent is used to track visitors across websites. The intention is to display ads that are relevant and engaging for the individual user and thereby more valuable for publishers and third party advertisers.

See details

This consent helps website owners to understand how visitors interact with websites by collecting and reporting.

See details
Forget my settings Settings have been forgotten