RIO LAS VACAS — Plastic bottles and mounds of trash lap onto the shores of a once pristine beach in a Honduran fishing village. It comes from neighboring Guatemala, carried down from a heavily polluted river.

Guatemala’s Rio Motagua runs from the edge of the country’s capital, Guatemala City, out to the Caribbean Sea. What once was a roaring river slows to a trickle in some areas, choked by trash.

“Everywhere you look, the mountains, the forest, the coastline, it’s absolutely stunning… to me it was very shocking to see (the pollution),” said Boyan Slat, the founder of The Ocean Cleanup.

Slat and his team are in a fight against time to trap the trash, estimated to total around 20,000 tonnes a year, before it reaches the sea.

“(This) is probably the most important river in the world when it comes to plastic pollution,” Slat said, with the river currently contributing to about 2% of the world’s total plastic emissions to oceans, according to his organization.

The issue stems largely from a tributary of the Rio Motagua, known as Rio Las Vacas, which is straddled by an urban landfill north of Guatemala City and also suffers from unlicensed waste dumping, according to The Ocean Cleanup.

The organization has now installed a chain-link fence spanning the width of the Rio Las Vacas, creating a dam of sorts to stop the trash before it reaches the trunk of river.

While not yet fully operational, the fence could be key to intercepting the plastic, according to The Ocean Cleanup. However, Slat points out that a long-term solution lies in proper waste management.

“If we can stop (the plastic) here, it’s going to be a major success for the oceans,” Slat said. (Reporting by Luis Echeverria for Reuters TV; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

For every size budget and kitchen

What to bring on a trip to Disneyland, Disney World or Disney Cruise Line

Bose, MEC and NYX Cosmetics, to name a few

Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.

A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.

The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox.

We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.

365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4

© 2022 National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited.

This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.