A revolutionary floating dam that traps plastic bags, bottles and other waste choking the world's oceans will be tested at sea for the first time in 2016, the Ocean Cleanup foundation said.

"It will be the first time our barrier design will be put to the test in open waters," the foundation said of the 100 metre-long (62 miles) barrier segment that will be deployed 23 kilometres off the coast of The Netherlands in the second quarter of the year.

Most ocean waste collection programmes use boats to scour the surf for the plastic flotsam and jetsam in which dolphins, seals and other sea creatures become entangled.

Ocean Cleanup's barrier uses currents to passively ensnare waves of garbage -- while allowing fish and other sea creatures through.

The foundation said the goal of the North Sea test, which comes after earlier tests in controlled environments on Dutch lakes, was "to monitor the effects of real-life sea conditions, with a focus on waves and currents".

Apart from spinning a deadly web for marine life plastic waste is also ingested by some creatures, with sea turtles for example mistaking plastic bags for jellyfish.

The contaminants then enter the food chain, where they are suspected of links to cancer, infertility and other health risks.

By 2020, the Ocean Clean project hopes to have installed a 100-kilometre-long V-shaped floating barrier in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch -- a vortex in the North Pacific where trash collects.

Each arm of the V would consist of a screen three metres deep that blocks waste and directs it to a central point where it can be collected for recycling.

Italy approves new anti-pollution measures
Rome (AFP) Dec 30, 2015 - Italy's centre-left government on Wednesday authorised local authorities to cut traffic speed limits by 20kph (12 mph) and office heating by two degrees in response to spikes in deadly air pollution.

The move follows this week's introduction of traffic restrictions in Rome, Milan and other cities after a rise in the concentration of health-threatening fine dust particles in the air as a result of a long spell of unseasonably dry, warm and windless weather.

After talks with regional governors and city mayors, Environment Minister Gian Luca Galletti announced the immediate release of 12 million euros ($13 million) to help local councils replace older buses with more environmentally friendly models and to encourage the use of public transport through cut-price daily passes.

In addition, a national Environmental Coordination Committee is to be set up with a brief to develop a strategy for combatting air pollution and a budget of 405 million euros.

Air pollution contributed to 84,400 premature deaths in Italy in 2012, according to the latest report for the European Environment Agency.

Of these, 59,500 were attributed to particles in the air, the problem which has caused this week's alerts.

In some places, the concentration of particulates has been recorded at over twice the 50 mg per cubic metre maximum recommended by the World Health Organization.