From the UK comes an innovative idea that could offer a solution to the huge amount of plastic that is building up in our oceans. A small British company, Bluebird Marine Systems (BMS), has conceived the 'SeaVax', an un-manned ship powered solely by sun and wind, that can vacuum up to 22 million kilos of plastic per year. The movement of the ship, with no need for a human crew, would be controlled via satellite. As well as sucking in all sorts of marine garbage (including oil spills), it would chew up and compress all of the waste.

The first model was built with the help of private investors, and further development has received interest from India, Nigeria and Australia. The project has now entered the phase of prototype building, patenting and model development. For all of this, millions will need to be invested, and the managers of BMS are looking for support from the British government and the EU. One can just imagine what a few boats like this could do for the health of our seas and our planet, so environmentalists hope that initiatives like this come to fruition very soon.