SOURCE: THE OCEAN CLEAN UP

OVER 5 TRILLION PIECES OF PLASTIC CURRENTLY LITTER THE OCEAN

Ocean plastic accumulates in five ocean garbage patches, the largest one being the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, located between Hawaii and California. To solve it, we not only need to stop more plastic from flowing into the ocean, but also clean up what is already out there. Floating plastics trapped in the patches will keep circulating until they break down into smaller and smaller pieces, becoming harder to clean up and increasingly easier to mistake for food by sealife. If left to circulate, the plastic will impact our ecosystems, health, and economies for decades or even centuries.

CLEANING THE OCEAN GARBAGE PATCHES

The fundamental challenge of cleaning up the ocean garbage patches is that the plastic pollution is highly diluted, spanning millions of square kilometers. Our cleanup solution is designed to first concentrate the plastic, allowing us to effectively collect and remove vast quantities.

CREATING AN ARTIFICIAL COASTLINE

To clean an area of this size, a strategic and energy-efficient solution is required. With a relative speed difference maintained between the cleanup system and the plastic, we create artificial coastlines, where there are none, to concentrate the plastic. The system is comprised of a long U-shaped barrier that guides the plastic into a retention zone at its far end. Through active propulsion, we maintain a slow forward speed with the system.

SCALING UP

We captured our first plastic from the GPGP in 2019 and in 2021 we reached proven technology. Today, our total catch runs to hundreds of tons and counting, and as we continuously improve our operations, our catches become larger and more reliable. In 2022, we began transitioning to the three-times larger System 03 by upgrading and replacing components gradually while continuing to harvest plastic. In August 2023, System 03 was deployed to the GPGP for the first time. Cleaning the entire GPGP requires a fleet of cleaning systems, and we believe that System 03 will allow us to develop our blueprint for that scale-up, all while continuing to extract unprecedented amounts of plastic.

EXPECTED IMPACT

Our floating systems are designed to capture plastics ranging from small pieces, just millimeters in size, up to large debris, including massive, discarded fishing nets (ghost nets), which can be tens of meters wide.

Modeling predicts we need around 10 full-size systems to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

After fleets of systems are deployed into every ocean gyre, combined with source reduction, The Ocean Cleanup projects to be able to remove 90% of floating ocean plastic by 2040.

MANAGING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

We aim to rid the oceans of plastic in the most responsible way possible. Our mission is intended to benefit the ocean and its inhabitants, so we place protection of the marine environment and mitigation of any negative impact of our operations at the forefront of our ocean cleaning operations.

Since our operations began, we have conducted continuous research in the laboratory and the field, aiming to optimize our positive impact consistently. System 03, our current ocean cleaning technology, has deterrents, cameras, escape aids, and other features to minimize risk to marine wildlife. We also have trained independent observers on board the vessels each trip to monitor any interactions with protected species (such as turtles or whales) in the area. Monitoring data has confirmed that our operations are having only minimal effects on the environment.