[s_dev]

Seems like a clever solution but not sure how scalable it is for cleaning the ocean.

Cleaning the water would require pumping it which has to be super expensive. Maybe a such a filter at the end of residential waste pipes might be an appropriate application.

[Cthulhu_]

It wouldn't work at scale in the oceans; I don't think it discriminates between microplastics and microorganisms.

It'd work on a smaller scale though, but then it would have to compete with traditional filters.

[shakedown1]

The application of it is not intended to clean the ocean. As you say, you're supposed to put it in the (washing machine, dishwasher, waste etc.) before it gets to the ocean.

[Ekaros]

With those there is soap or other such agents involved. I wonder if they will unbind the oils from the ferrous material or prevent the plastics from attaching.

[konschubert]

Or just a coarse metal catcher in front of the estuaries of the most polluted rivers

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/90-of-plastic-polluti...

[DanBC]

They mean to say "90% of the plastic in the ocean that comes from rivers comes from just 10 rivers".

https://factcheck.afp.com/widely-cited-study-did-not-show-95...

"It estimated that 88 to 95 percent of the plastic transported by 1,350 large rivers around the world — referred to by scientists as riverine waste — comes from only 10 rivers, all of which are in Asia and Africa. The study does not attempt to compare the plastic waste transported by rivers to the total plastic waste in seas and oceans."

There's a bunch of plastic in the ocean that didn't come from rivers - mostly industrial fishing waste.

[dada78641]

That "once again, Canada is not the problem" line in the viral post is missing the point so, so badly.

Like, yeah, lots of industrial waste comes from developing countries where the major production centers are, mostly in Asia. But the people sharing that image should ask themselves where those products go after they're made. A huge amount of that production is for the richer Western countries, and that does make it your responsibility if you live there.

This is how industrialized countries lower their CO2 output as well: just outsource it other countries. Under the Paris Agreement, countries are only held responsible for emissions that occur within its borders. It's just another way for the greatest consumers to be able to shrug and say "not our fault".