The Ocean Cleanup

Hello! We are The Ocean Cleanup. Our name tells you a lot about us. We are a non-profit organization, which means our main goal is to help the planet, not to make money. We focus on developing new technology—special tools and systems—to rid the world’s oceans of plastic pollution. Our work is guided by a very important mission: we aim to remove 90 percent of all floating ocean plastic by the year 2040.

Our story began not so long ago, in 2013. It started with an idea from our founder, Boyan Slat, who was just a teenager at the time. He learned about the enormous problem of plastic trash floating in the sea. He was especially concerned about huge areas where ocean currents cause plastic to gather in massive swirling patches. The most famous of these is called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Seeing how much plastic was harming the ocean inspired him to search for a new and better solution. From his idea, our organization was born, ready to take on this global challenge.

To achieve our ambitious goal, we created a two-part plan. The first part focuses on cleaning up the plastic that is already floating far out in the ocean. This is a huge task, so we had to invent a new way to do it. We designed and built long, floating barriers that we place in the water. These barriers are designed to move with the wind and the waves, just like the plastic does. They act like a coastline, naturally concentrating the scattered plastic into a smaller area. This makes it possible for us to gather it for collection and removal.

Getting this technology right was not easy. We faced some challenges with our first designs, and we had to learn and make improvements along the way. But we never gave up. Our newer designs, such as the one we call System 002, have proven to be successful at capturing plastic, from huge fishing nets to tiny microplastics. This shows us that our approach can work on a large scale.

The second part of our plan is to stop more trash from ever reaching the ocean. We discovered that most ocean plastic starts its journey in rivers. So, we decided to go to the source. We developed special machines that we call Interceptors. An Interceptor is a floating barge that we place in some of the world's most polluting rivers. These machines are powered by the sun using solar panels, so they don’t create more pollution. They work around the clock, catching plastic waste as it floats down the river before it has a chance to reach the sea.

We also wanted to be smart about what we do with all the plastic we collect from both the oceans and the rivers. We created a system to recycle some of the plastic we remove. We turn this certified ocean plastic into new, useful products. By selling these items, we can help fund our cleanup operations. It creates a full circle, where the trash we remove helps us clean up even more trash. With our two-part strategy—cleaning up the legacy pollution in the ocean and stopping the flow of new plastic from rivers—we are working every day to reach our goal and restore health to our planet’s oceans.