Scientists estimate that there are at least 14 million metric tons of microplastics on the ocean floor, and while all kinds of plastic debris are considered bad for the environment, these ones are especially hard to detect and remove because of their minuscule size.

German company Wasser 3.0, however, thinks it may have found the answer to cleaning up microplastic pollution before it reaches the ocean — using a whirlpool and a specially developed hybrid silica gel.

Image: Naja Jensen, Unsplash