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A young Dutch inventor is widening his effort to purge the Pacific Ocean of plastic by turning his focus to rivers, using a solar-powered boat to catch rubbish before it reaches the seas.

Twenty-five-year-old university dropout Boyan Slat founded The Ocean Cleanup to develop a system that catches plastic waste floating in the ocean. The next stage is the Interceptor, a vessel which trawls rivers doing the same.
 
Slat's organisation has drawn criticism previously for focusing only on plastic trash already floating in the world's oceans. Experts say 9 million tonnes of plastic – including bottles, bags and toys – flows into the ocean every year from beaches and rivers, endangering marine life.

Three Interceptors have already been deployed to Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, and a fourth is heading to the Dominican Republic, says Slat.