Scientists are set to launch a device they hope will clean up the 80,000 tons of plastic floating in an area of the Pacific Ocean.System 001, developed by non-profit organisation Ocean Cleanup, will begin its journey to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch from San Francisco on Saturday after years in development.The 600 metre long machine uses tidal patterns to float into areas of high plastic concentration, creating a horseshoe-shaped barrier to trap debris which can later be collected and recycled.If successful, Ocean Cleanup, the brainchild of Dutch inventor Boyan Slat, wants to launch a fleet of similar systems to remove around half of plastic trapped in the vortex over the next five years.Located roughly halfway between Hawaii and the coast of California, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest accumulation of ocean plastics in the world.The trap, formed by circulating currents, is thought to contain 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic and now covers an area the size of France.