ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 5 -- United States Patent no. 12,275,167, issued on April 15.
"Marine vessel with integrated plastic shredding and pelletizing system for ocean cleanup and repurposing into plastic asphalt" was invented by Zoey Cook (Little Rock, Ark.) and Gregory Donald Carson (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A marine vessel designed for the collection, shredding, and pelletizing of oceanic plastic waste. The vessel uses renewable energy sources such as solar panels and wind turbines to power onboard systems, including AI-enhanced sensors that detect and target high-density areas of plastic debris. Once collected, the plastic is shredded and processed into unifor...