The Claw
A permanent floating station to vaporize ocean plastic where it collects — powered by plasma gasification
The Problem
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch covers 1.6 million square kilometers — twice the size of Texas. Current cleanup efforts collect surface debris but cannot match the rate of new plastic entering the ocean. The Claw proposes a different approach: permanent infrastructure that processes plastic at the accumulation point.
The Approach
Plasma gasification converts waste into syngas at 5,000°C+ — no combustion, no toxic ash, no residue. This technology is already deployed on the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier. The Claw would adapt it for a stationary ocean platform, powered partly by the energy it generates from processing plastic.