Environment

The driver behind our mission to rid the world’s oceans of plastic is to make the ocean a healthier place for all life that benefits from it, so our number one priority is safety for the environment and our crew. While the overall risks of our operations were found to be negligible, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) conducted by CSA Ocean Sciences determined that some interactions are likely with some species of fish, turtles, and certain plankton and neustonic organisms with limited mobility, so we must minimize this impact as much as possible.

The EIA notes that the long-term impact on marine species of the removal of large amounts of plastic and marine debris should be beneficial, and it is unlikely that any potentially impacted species will decrease in number. As data is still limited, there is uncertainty about the residual impact our operations may have on these communities; therefore, we aim to help fill these knowledge gaps by continuing to collect data during our operations and sharing this with the scientific community.

Our systems are designed to be safe for the marine environment; speed (slower than a casual stroll), materials, and shape have all been chosen to minimize negative side effects. We have also incorporated mitigation measures into our systems to deter marine animals from interacting with the system or provide easy exit routes in case they do – and we continue to develop new mitigation measures as we operate. Alongside increasing our underwater cameras, System 03 introduced a new Marine Animal Safety Hatch, which can activate to encourage any animal in the Retention Zone to exit, further limiting any chances for an animal to become trapped. While extracting plastic, dedicated Environmental Observers and crew are present and monitoring the area. If necessary, we can -and do- halt cleanup operations based on the event severity level.
As we continue to develop our technology and learn more about the natural behaviors of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and its wildlife, we will adapt as needed to ensure our net impact on this environment remains as positive as possible.

Read this Update: “How we Ensure an Environmentally Sound Cleanup” for more information about mitigation measures.

Fish are often attracted to floating structures found offshore, such as flotsam, and oil and gas platforms. This also applies to the plastic that is currently in the ocean, including large ghost nets. By collecting this plastic, fish may gather around our system temporarily. However, because the retention zone is emptied every two weeks, and the entire system may be removed from the water every four weeks, these FAD effects are removed, and the fish disperse.

Learn more about how the system is designed for limited environmental impact in this YouTube video.

Limiting our impact on the environment is at the core of each decision we make. As with any large-scale activity at sea, currently, consuming fuel is inevitable. With System 03, this is primarily related to the vessels operating the system. Since the start of our activities in the GPGP in 2018, we have been offsetting all carbon emissions related to our operations following a third-party assessment of our total carbon footprint. We will continue to do so with S03, while continuously working on minimizing emissions. Our offshore partner, Maersk, will continue to develop the most fuel-efficient vessel routing and logistics for our scale-up and hope to further incorporate sustainable fuels, with the aim to integrate renewable fueled assets into our operations. We are also working on a full cost-benefit assessment to determine our net impact on the environment.

Yes, we have conducted environmental impact assessments for our previous ocean systems, as well as the current one operating in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – System 03. You can see the EIA for this system here.

Before we scale up to a fleet of systems, we will reference our original assessment and conduct additional EIAs based on any design changes and the scope of the operations. We will only move forward with deployment once we have confirmation from new EIAs that our activities will not adversely affect the environment.

Read more about out prevention and mitigation measures in this blogpost.

The Environmental Impact Assessment conducted by CSA (independent third-party) for our technology estimates that impacts of System 03 on Neuston likely range from negligible to low. However, we acknowledge that it is difficult to determine what positive or negative impact will occur between our technology and floating organisms (neuston) as little is known about the interaction of these organisms with this offshore environment, plastic, and our technology. There is still much to learn, hence the need for continued research. Fortunately, our operations provide a unique platform to conduct regular and systematic research on this under-studied topic, helping us to understand our potential impact on the marine environment and providing greater insights into these organisms. We are currently investigating the seasonal dynamics of neuston and how they relate to plastic accumulation in the GPGP and beyond.

To read more about our findings, preventions, and mitigations in the System 002 campaign, you can visit this update. See also our update on research on neuston in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Prior to each Interceptor deployment, we work with local and global partners including expert consultants to scan for environmental and social impacts unique to the specific conditions of each river and to comply with local environmental laws and regulations. We commissioned third-party environmental and social impact scanning (ESIS) with Royal Haskoning, Arcadis, and Witteveen+Bos for the deployment areas in question. With an ESIS we estimate the possible impact on the environment. To date, the assessments have shown the impact to tend towards negligible. In tandem, we are developing monitoring processes to better understand this possible impact – with some pilot efforts currently active. While we are still very much in a learning phase, for each deployment, we will conduct additional ESISs and develop monitoring efforts for verification

Before our operations commence, The Ocean Cleanup takes several steps into consideration of local communities, wildlife, and habitats.

Prior to each Interceptor deployment, we work with local and global partners including expert consultants to scan for environmental and social impacts unique to the specific conditions of each river and to comply with local environmental laws and regulations. We commissioned third-party environmental and social impact scanning (ESIS) with Royal Haskoning, Arcadis, and Witteveen+Bos for the existing and upcoming deployment locations.

These reports are shared with the necessary regulatory stakeholders for each project when applicable, but as they involve multiple third parties, which differ for each Interceptor, it is not appropriate for us to publicly share the assessments at this time. For each Interceptor project, we will conduct additional ESIS assessments prior to deployment. Since the approach and depth of the assessments can vary, we are learning how to best conduct, standardize, and share environmental and social impact scanning. Part of this process includes the development of management plans with monitoring and mitigation protocols, including recording occurrences of animal interaction and collected debris composition. This information is used to continuously improve our technology and methodology to reduce impacts.

Considering that we are still developing this process, our intention is to provide more information here in the future, including a summary of the results of existing impact assessments.

We are always welcome to collaboration and we would love to hear from you. You can send an email to our team at environmentalteam@theoceancleanup.com

Thank you for taking the time to share your concern with us. It’s important to us to be able to hear and learn from critical feedback as well as positive. Would you please send an email our team at environment@theoceancleanup.com so we can start a dialogue with you?

Thank you for your interest in The Ocean Cleanup and for wanting to help solve the plastic pollution problem!
There are several steps you can take to prevent plastic pollution, but some depend on recycling facilities in your area. Here are a few tips:

• Organize beach, river bank, or land cleanups (you might also be able to find Facebook groups for established initiatives in your area)
• Reduce your use of disposable plastics (use a reusable water bottle, use a reusable grocery bag, get into some ‘do it yourself projects’ to reduce packaging, etc.)
• Make sure you dispose of trash properly
• Reuse and recycle whenever possible
• Wash your synthetic clothing as little as possible and use microfiber absorbers when you do
• Support us financially with a donation
• Join The Ocean Cleanup team
• Become a Citizen Scientist with our The Ocean Cleanup Survey app
• Lobby to your (local) government
• Help educate the younger generations on the impact of plastic pollution (check out this eco-friendly board game for kids ages 4+!)
• Simply share The Ocean Cleanup’s mission through word of mouth or over social media with your network
• Tag @theoceancleanup to share your individual efforts against plastic pollution
• Start a Facebook Fundraiser for The Ocean Cleanup on your profile to get your friends and family involved
• Donate your KLM Flying Blue miles to help enable our team to be where they need to be to further our mission

Thanks again for your offer to help – we really appreciate it!