James Dyson's Barge Concept Will Vacuum Trash Out of Rivers

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James Dyson at the launch of his company's DC41 Ball vacuum and the Dyson Hot heater fan in New York in September, 2011.

Image: Rob Bennett/Images for Dyson/Associated Press

By Karissa Bell2014-04-15 19:23:44 UTC

James Dyson, best known as the founder of his eponymous vacuum cleaner company, is known for less-than-conventional ideas. From robot vacuums to a sink/hand dryer combination, the inventor has a reputation for thinking outside the box.

His newest concept applies this signature approach to a problem much bigger than cleaning our rugs or washing our hands: pollution. Dyson's idea for a vacuum-equipped barge would troll rivers sucking plastic debris and other pollution out of the water.

See also: Dyson's Vision: A Robot Vacuum That Can See

Dyson says the concept, dubbed the MV Recyclone barge, has the potential to reduce the amount of waste flowing into the world's oceans.

Much of the trash and plastic debris that has turned the Pacific Ocean into a "plastic soup" originates in rivers. By focusing on these rivers, the Recyclone barge would effectively cut off the source of much of the pollution and greatly reduce the flow of waste into the ocean, Dyson said, who first detailed his idea to Time for its Ideas Issue.

A sketch of what Dyson's trash barge concept might look like.

He later elaborated on the idea to FastCompany , explaining how the suction system might work and how the barge would process the waste it collects:

Large skim nets unfurl from the rollers at its stern and are anchored on each side of the river. Hydraulic winches wind them in and out. The nets face upstream and skim the surface of the river for floating debris. The plastic waste is shredded on board and then different grades of plastic are separated by a huge cyclone—very similar to the way our cyclonic vacuums work.

The idea is still very much a concept, but Dyson maintains it's a viable one. However, it's not much more than a few sketches at this point, so the trash-sucking barge would need a lot more work and testing before it could ever come to fruition.

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Topics: design concept, Dev & Design, dyson, Gadgets, pollution, Tech