Floating islands promise ocean clean up

Artificial islands use pollution-eating microbes to suck up toxins from lakes and oceans

Floating Island International has opened a manufacturing plant in California to create floating islands that it hopes will clean up inland water and oceans.

The company uses recycled plastic to create the islands, which can be customised to different buoyancies and are designed to accumulate pollution-eating microbes.

The microbes can chew through heavy metals and other toxins that accumulate in fresh water or the ocean, said owner Bruce Kania. He wants them to be used for cleaning up 'dead zones' where too many chemical nutrients have depleted oxygen levels in the water making it uninhabitable for wildlife. He would also like to pilot the island projects in areas such as the Canadian tar sands, where oil extraction has left so-called toxic tailings in lakes and killed wildlife.

Over time, the plastic platforms build up natural deposits on top of the biofilm left by the algae microbes, explained Kania. The deposits completely envelop the plastic and continue to grow underneath and on top of the island, he said, adding that this also helps the island to absorb carbon from the environment.

The Californian plant is generating 10,000 square feet of island material per shift, which equates to 3/4 of an acre per day. It was made possible after the company raised $2.5m in funding, part of which came from the Californian Department of Conservation.

"The money came from a fund that the Californian Department of Conservation generated via its deposit money on plastic containers," said Kalia, who called it ironic that the islands were made of recycled plastic. "That includes stuff like recycled polyester carpet, which we can turn into something far more beneficial."

The three year-old company has already shipped over 3,000 islands ranging from small ones to larger projects. It is currently negotiating a deal for a 25,000 square foot island in Singapore.