We create a bubble curtain by pumping air through a perforated tube on the bottom of the waterway. The bubble curtain creates an upward current which directs plastic to the surface. By placing the Bubble Barrier diagonally across the river, the natural flow of the water will push the plastic waste to the side and into the catchment system. The catchment system is designed to work in harmony with the bubble curtain to collect and retain plastics. Following collection, it will be removed for processing and reuse.

Bubble curtains have been around for a long time. They are widely used in the oil and dredging industry, as well as in the Dutch lock system. The Bubble Barrier system, created by The Great Bubble Barrier, is the first bubble curtain used to capture plastic pollution.

There are several active Bubble Barriers capturing plastic pollution across the globe. You can find all Bubble Barrier projects on our Projects page. 

Once plastic pollution encounters the Bubble Barrier, it is guided to the side of the waterway, where it's collected in the catchment system. The catchment system is tailored to work with the existing infrastructure of the specific location. Depending on the Bubble Barrier location, the catchment system will then be emptied from water or land. 

Bubble Barriers are safe for fish migration. Most species will pass through the bubbles or take a short time before they pass it. We nevertheless implement a fish passage in each design under the catchment system. With every new project, the local ecological impact of a Bubble Barrier is carefully considered in collaboration with ecologists. 

Whales use bubble-net feeding to hunt fish. Does the Bubble Barrier have the same effect on fish?

Humpback whales use the so-called "bubble-net feeding" method to concentrate herring near the water surface. Whales use air bubbles to blow a ring around the school of fish before they jointly breach the surface and feed on the fish. Research suggests that the main driver behind the concentration of the fish is the sound that the whales make when they blow the bubble ring. The bubbles will create a “wall of sound” which scares the fish away from it rather than being afraid of the bubbles themselves. The Bubble Barrier technology is thin and silent, using tiny bubbles, which don't come as a surprise to passing fish. 

Bubble curtains can also be used for other applications than the capture of plastic. However, the Bubble Barrier system focuses on the capture of plastic pollution in waterways. For all other bubble curtain applications, we would like to put you in touch with one of our partners.

The Bubble Barrier creates a bubble curtain with a perforated tube placed on the bottom of the waterway. The tube is made of EPDM and reinforced with an anchoring system upon implementation in the waterway. 

Plastic caught by our Bubble Barriers is collected by the local Water Authority who in turn send it to a recycling centre. Wherever we implement a Bubble Barrier we help to ensure the waste is processed most sustainably through existing waste management systems.

For most Bubble Barrier projects, the plastic waste is sorted and monitored for a certain period to collect impact data. The types, sizes and sources of (plastic) waste are researched in these monitoring programmes. Valuable insights and data, resulting from the monitoring, can be used to strengthen the urgency to act and advocate for policy change to tackle plastic pollution in waterways. The Great Bubble Barrier and our partners use the OSPAR-river method when monitoring waste captured by Bubble Barriers. The OSPAR-river method is a riverbank litter monitoring protocol that offers a practical and standardised framework, sporting over 100 individual waste categories. 

We are currently exploring with partners to recycle the collected plastics. However, as a tech scale-up, we focus on the efficacy and deployment of the Bubble Barrier technology and its catchment system. Other great innovative companies focus on sorting, identification, and recycling of river plastic only.

The Great Bubble Barrier aims to remove as much plastic pollution as possible from waterways using Bubble Barriers.
Besides cleaning rivers from plastic, we:

• Monitor the amount of plastic in waterways to ignite policy change
• Increase awareness of plastic pollution
• Ensure sustainable processing of the catch

The Great Bubble Barrier is a young and fast-growing Dutch scale-up based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. To get the rivers free from plastics, we’re always looking for talented and motivated pioneers to join our mission. View all career opportunities here.

At The Great Bubble Barrier, we are always looking for helping hands. Get in touch with us to discuss possibilities. We might acquire your CV.

We would love to work with you. All the available internships are listed on our careers page.