Good news! A machine designed to pick up plastic in the ocean is now actually doing that job. The device from the Ocean Cleanup has launched a prototype that is successfully picking up ocean trash of a variety of sizes in the ocean.

The device is working in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch which is one of many areas of the ocean where plastic debris has collected, carried by the ocean currents. Many of these areas where plastic forms almost an island of waste can be found throughout the oceans. They are made from a variety of plastic waste which includes bottle, bags, and fishing nets.

After many failed starts, the device, which is a u-shaped sort of trawler, has managed to successfully pick trash. If this model proves successful in the long run, the group claims that it will be able to to reduce the size of the patch by about half, every five years