Amsterdam is planning to expand its ‘bubble barrier,’ a system that helps clear plastic from its canal system before it can escape to rivers and oceans, saying the trial installation that’s been working since 2019 is pulling over a ton of trash a year, 190,000 individual pieces.
The barrier consists of a 60m punctured pipe that runs along the bottom of the channel. Compressed air is pumped through, and rises as a curtain of bubbles; thanks to its diagonal positioning and the river current, the bubbles push pieces of plastic and rubbish upwards and to one side, where it can be collected.
It will now be installed at five other places in the waterway system. City waterways chief Melanie van der Horst told councillors that “We expect the Bubble Barrier to catch 86% of floating plastic before it heads for the IJ waterway and flows into the sea”
