Amsterdam’s ‘bubble barrier’ fighting plastic pollution - BBC News

Dutch inventors are removing plastic from Amsterdam’s rivers and canals using a ‘net’ made from bubbles.
They claim the invention stops nearly 90% of plastic waste from passing downstream.
The BBC visited The Netherlands to see the barrier in action.
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#Amsterdam #Innovation #BBCNews

[@kasondaleigh]

Brilliant! A non- invasive, non- polluting, almost invisible barrier. Impressive.

[@ilgiusto6885]

Not pollution ? More Energy for compressed air, more....

[@pabloquijadasalazar7507]

This is awesome. Well done 🇳🇱!

[@Tini_Scrapitti]

Dutch excellence!

[@stephenball-qo7ug]

British broadcasting corporation, but on its youtube channel barley any news from the UK.

[@ry1023.3]

They just don’t want us to think about how wrong shit is in the uk, I mean we still haven’t taxed the gas companies for their record profits. People forgot about that

[@julianshepherd2038]

Everything is fkd here so Sunak won't want to be paying for that to be broadcast.

[@zuur303]

Ah, not a grain of news you say

[@underarmbowlingincidentof1981]

yeah their KZbin channel is more targeted towards international news. Compiling whats going on, telling that to the british people. Thats sort of how I understood them. I mean the brits got local papers too right? For local stuff?

[@Neilhuny]

It has oat news, wheat news and rye news, surely that's enough?

[@public.public]

GREAT idea. Well done.

[@oldsoul9568]

It is made of a series of air diffusers that are placed underwater. The air diffusers create a curtain of bubbles that floats on the surface of the water. The bubbles create a barrier that plastic cannot pass through.

[@danielwhyatt3278]

Oh this is a really wonderful idea.✌🏼 I hadn’t quite considered using bubbles like this before to stop small amounts of plastic and other waste from travelling into the ocean. I knew the idea had been considered before for fish in aquariums but not for waste. I wonder if the organisation Ocean Cleanup (a truly brilliant organisation and is shocking if nobody has heard of them before) has considered doing this as well? It really looks similar to the technique they use and a similar pick up method.👌🏼 hopefully there can be some collaboration there in the future. I hope we can indeed see one of these bubble filtration and pick up systems installed here in the UK in Manchester very soon.👏🏻 We need them everywhere.

[@reasonerenlightened2456]

how much does it cost to make a bubble?

[@hexusmexus6971]

@@reasonerenlightened2456running costs are 1million pound a month from tax payers

[@tastypymp1287]

I don't think Amsterdam is fighting 'plastic pollution'. The civic standards of the inhabitants has steadily declined over time and what they're actually fighting are the consequences of that policy.

[@stephenrickstrew7237]

Great idea … Maybe if we used Hemp based organic plastics that wouldn’t last for 10,000 years….?

[@underarmbowlingincidentof1981]

yeah but thats expensive and anything that does not make more money has to be forced onto companies.

[@stephenrickstrew7237]

@@underarmbowlingincidentof1981 an ounce of prevention

[@johnransom1146]

This isn’t hard. It would probably work in cold water too because that’s how you keep water from freezing. Aereator and moving water.

[@pleiadiblu2365]

Stop this madness at the source

[@Nayson]

They've had a couple of these on the Grand Union Canal outside Paddington Station for nearly ten years.

[@danielwhyatt3278]

Oh really? I didn’t know about that. Has it been very successful in London then? Considering the size of the canal there surely must’ve had some impact!?

[@Nayson]

@@danielwhyatt3278 I'm not sure, I just walk past it from time to time. It's been successful enough to leave it switched on for all this time I guess and it's noticeable that it keeps algae one one side of the barrier. I'm guessing they are fairly cheap to run and easy to maintain as it's basically just a pump and a hosepipe with holes in it right?

[@lfeb]

Super cool! ❤🤞

[@thelastofthehitachi972]

ban plastic in food/drink packaging (and plastic bags)

[@pippalewisNYC]

Seeing the bird waddling in the water amongst all that trash was heartbreaking. That should not be normal or acceptable. Kudos to such a brilliant idea for stemming the flow of trash!

[@barbarabauling7513]

Brilliant idea. Well done the Dutch. Alongside Boyan Slat and the Ocean Cleanup programme this bubble idea will help to decrease ocean pollution immensely. This makes me proud to be living in The Netherlands! :)

[@bhaskarroy6760]

Excellent idea, easy and very effective

[@puiip3605]

Marvelous idea indeed

[@briansmith8490]

Get the multinational companies to sort their problems out ! Governments start governing instead of taking kickbacks from your owners.👍

[@blablup1214]

Companies can't do that much about people throwing their stuff on the ground like seen in 0:45 Wouldn't blame only companies. Especially not for the stuff that isn't for consumation on the go like the huge bucket at 2:11

[@andrewwmacfadyen6958]

The Dutch had bubble barriers in the mid- 1970's

[@andrieseast418]

Great idea and much needed to help keep our oceans clean👍

[@OBXN]

Beautiful idea

[@polygonalmasonary]

Brilliant idea, should win an award 🥇👍🇬🇧🌈

[@reasonerenlightened2456]

how much does it cost to make a bubble?

[@SichanguOyate]

Bravo!

[@Neilhuny]

A novel and clean solution

[@brianmcdowell6066]

This is awesome

[@mhenry4248]

Bravo! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@MyEarthEcoNut]

Hey, just a thought. Let's stop producing and using plastic. In its place, we use what we used to, recyclable and reusable glass containers...

[@profAKILI]

Why not outlaw the use of plastics in the first place

[@beijingpete]

Great innovation. The plastic producers, users and litters should be funding this.

[@WhyWorldWet]

Is the bubble barrier strong and powerful enough? Seems like I would make it three times as powerful just in case or larger pieces

[@reasonerenlightened2456]

how much does it cost to make a bubble?

[@ronniewilliams9884]

This is not a new idea. It has been tried in a number of applications at least thirty years ago e.g. at power station intakes here in Scotland to prevent jelly fish ingress, I believe on the Panama Canal to prevent sea snakes passing through to the Atlantic

[@johnvtram]

Packaging hasn't changed in 50 years

[@julesverne5072]

Super cool

[@OyeCheeku]

What is the mechanism behind it??? Someone explain

[@originalunoriginal4055]

I think environmental groups that disrupt the peace in public settings, should send a huge chunk of their members to this region and assist with removing plastic from the waters. This is practical and pragmatic action and will have meant that individuals claiming to "standup for the protection of the environment" will be directly making improvements to the planet. It's much more effective than glueing themselves to the public main roads or making a scene at live sporting events.

[@Ass_of_Amalek]

that is a super practical idea. you probably need to be very selective with locations for the collection to function this easily (with the bubbles making the stuff drift to the side), but when it works, it likely has a lot of potential to be very economical. the bubbles don't require much electricity to produce, and the whole tube setup probably only needs very infrequent maintenance and can be set up to be maintained easily (a flexible hose would be easy to pull to the surface to clean or raise it above the muck). in terms of the technical system, the only part where durability might be an issue is the air pump, but I don't know how much of an issue it actually is. city canals like in amsterdam and venice are the perfect locations for this due to their very low flow rates, and the high potential for trash due to the many people, while having little value as natural habitats. if you installed something like this in more ecologically important places, the bubble barriers may cause problems for fish species that may be repelled by them (in nature, bubble barriers are used by whales to drive fish swarms together). but in those places, leaving a small gap on one side of the bubble barrier should suffice for fish to find it. fish ladders around dams are generally much harder for fish to find. the basic concept is a very clever response to the fact that most plastic objects that don't already float on the surface have very close to neutral buoyancy, so catching a few bubbles can make them lift, and many of those objects, like bags and hollow containers, can very easily catch enough bubbles. I reckon in other places with more current, good results could be achieved with an active collection system behind the barrier that involves a floating net or sieve that's automatically either raked into a collection container, or slowly rotated like a conveyor belt, emptying into a container on one end. it would then block boats, but I reckon it could still be cheap. well, no variant is ever going to be cheap enough to finance its operation from the bit of burnable trash collected.

[@winstoningram99]

Quite an old story, but still pretty interesting.

[@tastypymp1287]

Bot

[@Ass_of_Amalek]

@@tastypymp1287 🤖

[@tastypymp1287]

@@Ass_of_Amalek Indeed

[@MrJekyllDrHyde1]

Creating so many bubbles should be very energy intensive, who is paying for this ?

[@arleneyana]

Ohh my good amazing ❤❤❤

[@AlejandroMadrid-tn1gp]

The U.S. needs to copy this.

[@tonysherwood9619]

Handy aggregate for island construction!

[@julianshepherd2038]

Because that will never break down and float away.

[@tonysherwood9619]

@@julianshepherd2038 they already do this - you plum!

[@papasquat355]

In 2023, there are alternatives to non-biodegradables. Companies just choose not to use them and governments refuse to mandate their usage (because they are in each others pockets). There is biodegradable packaging that is actually good for the planet, we are just denied them.

[@jamesd5767]

You ever tried non plastic straws ? They are shit. Plastic is always superior

[@pbasista]

​@@jamesd5767 Yes, I have tried paper straws. And they are just fine. I did not notice any practical issue during their usage. They are, obviously, only for a single use because they start decomposing quickly. But that is okay. I have also tried paper cotton swabs and they are excellent. Strong enough to do their job. Soft enough to not hurt people if accidentally used improperly. And above all, very easy to decompose.

[@marcob1729]

@@jamesd5767ever tried just drinking from a glass without a straw?

[@techtinkerin]

Worlds biggest bong! Oh yeah, I went there!

[@user-dq9bk7ec9c]

Nice.

[@sportingdirector1]

Smart

[@ACK333]

Finally only Smart Dutch done it! 🎉

[@gerrievantonder809]

However unpopular it may be, the truth is: the pollution started with the production of the pollutant. The pollution will stop when the pollutant is no longer produced.

[@blablup1214]

But in the end we don't miss those things and we don't want that "everything" gets banned. Just take coffee to go. Many places offer to fill up your reusable cup. People could also easily make their own coffee at home. But they are too lazy to bring their own cup and they ready to pay more to get this coffee at a shop.

[@c.t5136]

A wonderful idea but why is there plastic waste on the street such that the footage showed... ''it gets into the river'' how I hope that they are dealing with that also and not trying to bolt a door from which the horse has already half bolted.

[@tapuit1]

what about handing out fines to polluters!?

[@tastypymp1287]

I don't think Amsterdam is fighting 'plastic pollution'. The civic standards of the inhabitants has steadily declined over time and what they're actually fighting are the consequences of that policy.

[@billkingston4402]

Trust the Dutch to be responsible, in the UK the government is encouraging the water companies to destroy the rivers and coast because its what the British people want and the unregulated free market knows best

[@RealUlrichLeland]

Lol yeah. We need to stop the turds getting in the river before we can hope to tackle plastic pollution

[@boris8787]

Chillingbourne is far better than Amsterdam.

[@auro1986]

bbc, aquariums need to change water also

[@Jen-Yueh_Hu]

I'm going to start downvoting every single news video that I see that has comments enabled. Everybody should do the same. Make the world a better place; eliminate online comments.

[@SMunro]

Fine them a million euro and the right to own assets for littering.

[@iosefgarcia7499]

#ResiclagePlastic.

[@barneymagee3285]

They better get it out into the worlds oceans, there are billions of face nappies and rubber gloves choking the wildlife…

[@ijulia08]

Dutch will pay for what they did in Indonesia

[@kr_international_8608]

❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣❣

[@samjohn5109]

plastic huge bc of huge immigration n tourists from diff countyrs whr thy dont give imp to waste mgnt or caring of envt

[@hanifnahian]

Red Lizzo Light District 9

[@yitbarekabebe7377]

There is an ongoing genocide in Ethiopia The Abiy Ahmed's regime is bombarding the amhara people with drones and heavy artilleries out of blind hatred. The people of Amhara are subjected to countless atrocities, Hitherto the regime has been playing a childish hide-and-seek game. But the long siege on the people of Amhara turned in to a war of attrition and the regime engaged in ill-calculated all-out war on the people of Amhara. The audacious FANO is fighting for just cause for the inevitable victory!!! VICTORY FOR FANO💪💪💪 VICTORY FOR THE PEOPLE OF AMHARA!!!💪💪💪

[@clowndriver5576]

To be honest I don't see much hope on that solution. It's just a small grain in a sand beach in terms of trash tossed in our oceans. If you see the amount of trash and plastic produced by US and Asia that end up in the oceans, this work shown here can be considered a quite laughable solution. There's no hope. Plastics are everywhere. They are on the Artic, in the most isolated forests, in the air we breath and even in our bloodstream. We could even name our current age Plasticene rather than Anthropocene.

[@Neilhuny]

It's a demonstration of what could be done everywhere

[@clowndriver5576]

As I said, this solution won't solve the problem at all and won't even mitigate it. Asia and US simply toss and colossal amount of trash into the oceans annually. The root of the problem is not dealing with trash but producing it. It must stop producing plastic for everything in our daily life. But the trend is gonna worsen since more countries are being industrialized and more and more trash being produced.@@Neilhuny

[@user-fed-yum]

I think Plasticene has already been trademarked, sorry.

[@omyhaby1912]

Still it is a waste of time.... Only solution to this problem is reducing of plastic products All together, But that aint gonna Happen So He is wasting his Time and Energy

[@user-cv8xw8zn5u]

First.:-)

[@anilji1299]

Sarojani naidu told prophesy UK will become the land of rising sun again let the confusion in world subside ask the queens advice go ahead

[@ingridlinda215]

Eindelijk zijn ze hier in Nederland bezig met iets goeds voor de natuur,, nou nog de rest weg met zonnepanelen weg met windturbines en bomen weer terugplanten🎉

[@Biawaik.u]

Wait, do you think cryptocurrency will crash? I dont think so. More and more companies are integrating cryptocurrency into their operations: Amazon, Cannafarm Ltd, Burger King, even Starbucks, dude!

[@Islam__Islam]

__If you ever find yourself questioning your existence or you want answers about what your purpose is in this life, The Quran is the only book in the world which will give you the true answers to these questions.

[@Michael-en7rk]

So a fish net? But instead it’s for plastic.

[@lfeb]

Yeah and won't kill the fish

[@ProtestArtVideo]

Bubbles to catch plastic pollution. Neat idea. Also, biggest source of plastic pollution in water ways are fishing nets. Another reason to go vegan and sign the Plant Based Treaty.

[@BritishAnts]

❤ one day it will be banned, sooner the better!

[@Joey-ct8bm]

They found PFAS in lakes in Amsterdam. So don't go swimming in Amsterdam. Outside of Amsterdam you're fine.

[@lfeb]

Pfas are everywhere, unavoidable, they're inside you

[@Joey-ct8bm]

@@lfeb In Amsterdam they were dumped. They tested some lakes, concentrations were 40× above the average. It's true what you say though. This is only not the amount you want in your body.

[@MrMatt531]

Why are speech laws so draconian in the UK?

[@saisagarsaisagar4554]

Wait, do you think cryptocurrency will crash? I dont think so. More and more companies are integrating cryptocurrency into their operations: Amazon, Cannafarm Ltd, Burger King, even Starbucks, dude!