This environmental protection system has a serious weakness in its methods of waste identification and collecting. The sophisticated material recognition algorithms of the system mistakenly capture sea life by not differentiating between some forms of plastic waste and marine life. When microplastic concentrations above specific thresholds, the platform’s collecting systems jam entirely and call for regular maintenance. Most shockingly, the unit’s propulsion system fails catastrophically in high concentrations of chemical pollutants, rendering it useless in the most polluted places where it is most needed.
