Is there a Solution to Plastic Pollution?
The Interceptor Barricade in Guatemala’s Rio Las Vacas, 2024
I recently stumbled upon a video online of Rio Las Vacas in Guatemala on April 8, 2024, flowing with a basin of trash being caught in an interceptor. Unfortunately, the reality of garbage flowing through rivers is not all shocking however, seeing someone doing something about it was. I had not previously heard about The Ocean Cleanup or the pollution caused by flooding season in Guatemala.
Flooding in Guatemala: Rio Motagua & Las Vacas
Photos by Carlos Duarte in Chinautla, Guatemala City
The Rio Las Vacas, a vital tributary of Guatemala’s largest river, the Motagua, faces an ongoing environmental crisis stemming from an excess of waste. The River gets polluted from untreated sewage, industrial waste, sediment garbage, and blackwater discharged from toilets originating from Guatemala City.
The magnitude of the Motagua River’s impact is so dramatic due to the estimated 18 million pounds of waste per year that flow through it. As the rainy season hits, the tributaries, including the Las Vacas, expand and overflow, creating a river of waste flowing through communities. The Motagua River travels through 80 municipalities, home to approximately five million residents. The repercussions of this are abundant as the country already suffers from waste management issues and the residents and wildlife rely on these waterways. The issue of pollution perpetuates through Motagua and culminates in the Gulf of Honduras and the Caribbean Sea.
The Ocean Cleanup
With a bold aim to remove 90% of the floating plastics in the oceans by 2040, The Ocean Cleanup was founded by Boyan Slat in 2013. Implementing innovative solutions in Rivers and Oceans throughout the world, they are dedicated to their goal of removing plastics from our waterways. In Oceans, they have launched an initiative of Artificial Coastlines in The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. These coastlines serve as natural barriers, gathering garbage and plastics from the Pacific. Additionally, they are addressing river pollution by looking at the world’s worst polluting rivers. Through their Interceptor solutions, they aim to tackle pollution in 1000 rivers worldwide. Their various Interceptor systems are tailored to address challenges presented by different river environments to remove waste before it can reach Oceans. By pioneering innovative technologies and encouraging collaboration they are leading efforts to combat plastic pollution in our waterways.
What is the Inceptor Barricade?
The Interceptor 006 was deployed earlier this year by The Ocean Cleanup in Guatemala with an aim to catch waste flowing through Rio Las Vacas. This Barricade is made up of a heavy-duty floating boom system that is anchored to concrete foundations that are planted into dry land. The Barricade is set up as a ‘two-boom system’: one boom set upstream and another set downstream to capture anything the first might've missed. These booms can stop the flow of plastics in the river which would eventually lead to the Motagua and the Sea. As the flood season began in 2024, truckloads of trash got caught by the booms in a few hours, this barricade could completely turn around the waste flowing into the Caribbean Sea.