Cleanup 90% of floating ocean plastic by 2040

The Ocean Cleanup is a non-profit project developing and scaling technologies to rid the oceans of plastic. Our innovative ocean cleaning system is already removing plastic from the Pacific Ocean. Combined with our Interceptor river solutions deployed around the world, we aim to reduce floating ocean plastic by 90% by 2040.

Trillions of pieces of plastic float on the surface of our oceans, damaging habitats and contaminating food chains; a problem forecast to worsen exponentially as the stream of plastic flowing into the ocean from rivers increases. We address the plastic problem with a dual strategy: removing plastic that is already polluting the oceans, while also intercepting plastic in rivers to prevent it reaching the ocean and adding to the problem.

Throughout 2021 and 2022, our ocean cleaning system has been harvesting plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), estimated to contain around 100,000,000 kilograms of plastic. Each branch of this strategy is essential to efficiently rid the oceans of plastic.

The Ocean Cleanup’s engineers and scientists have conducted in-depth research and modelling of plastic accumulation in the oceans which shows that neither ocean cleanup nor river interception alone is enough. Our data shows that both tracks are necessary in order to begin reducing the amount of plastic in our oceans.

Since we began testing our original System 001 cleaning system in 2018, we have optimized both design and operability. As of June 2022, our upgraded System 002 has covered over 2,700km2 (equivalent to almost half a million football fields) and removed over 84,000 kilograms of plastic from the GPGP. Our newest iteration, System 03, is in preparations for deployment. Our largest and most efficient system yet, System 03 will provide our blueprint as we scale up to a larger fleet of systems.

This is alongside our various Interceptor systems currently deployed in rivers from Vietnam and Indonesia to Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Malaysia. Further Interceptor deployments are planned for locations including Bangkok, Thailand and LA County, USA.

Our goal is to tackle plastic in the world’s 1000 most polluting rivers, which are responsible for 80% of plastic emissions into the oceans.

As a non-profit organization we rely entirely on third-party support. We thank our partners including The Coca-Cola Company, Maersk, Kia, rock band Coldplay, and the Government of the Netherlands for helping us play a role in reducing ocean plastic and we are proud to stand alongside organizations and states who wish to support our mission.

The Ocean Cleanup is proud to support the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14. We support the aims of the UN Oceans Conference and the recognition of these threats to biodiversity, marine habitats and human health through the 2022 Ocean Conference Political Declaration “Our ocean, our future, our responsibility” and the UN Environment Assembly Resolution, 'End Plastic Pollution: Towards a legally binding instrument'.

These commitments provide a mandate to act, and The Ocean Cleanup is acting to reduce floating ocean plastic by 90% by 2040.