Plastic Research

To be able to solve a problem, you have to understand it. The Ocean Cleanup has carried out research on plastic pollution since 2013 to understand the scale of the issue and the impacts of plastic pollution. Our team of in-house scientists carries out ongoing research to look at the problem in its present state and inform our engineering team of potential system innovations, but also to look ahead and adapt accordingly. Read more about our research in our scientific publications. All content below should be credited to The Ocean Cleanup.

Manta trawl (starboard) and underwater trawl (stern - cable from blue A-frame) during deep sea research mission 2018. The aim of the mission was to see if the plastic afloat in ocean garbage patches can pollute the deep sea below.
CTD (Conductivity, Temperature, Density) profiler during deep sea research, 2018. The aim of the mission was to see if plastic floating in ocean garbage patches can pollute the deep sea below
Counting and categorizing the sampled microplastic during the deep sea expedition 2018. The aim of the mission was to see if the plastic afloat in ocean garbage patches can pollute the deep sea below.
River plastic research in Malaysia, conducted by The Ocean Cleanup crew and local research partners.
River plastic research in Guatemala

River plastic research in Malaysia, conducted by The Ocean Cleanup crew and local research partners
River plastic research in Malaysia, conducted by The Ocean Cleanup crew and local research partners.
The Ocean Cleanup research team processes ocean plastic samples in the laboratory.
The Ocean Cleanup research team processes ocean plastic samples in the laboratory.
Laurent Lebreton, Lead Oceanographer at The Ocean Cleanup, carrying out desk research
Counting of microplastics in The Ocean Cleanup's lab
Lead Oceanographer Laurent Lebreton logging data aboard the Ocean Force One during the Aerial Expedition, 2016.
Ocean Force One's arrival at Moffett Airfield in Mountain View, California, Aerial Expedition 2016
The Ocean Cleanup team and Aerial Expedition crew
Aerial Expedition 2016: Sensor equipment; a CZMIL system which uses LiDAR to create a 3D-image of the ghost nets (left), and a SASI hyperspectral SWIR imaging system, which uses an infrared camera to detect ocean plastic (right).
Mega Expedition mothership R/V Ocean Starr fully deployed above the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, 2015.
Trawling in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Surface sampling ‘Manta trawl’ in action. With a trawl, you can see how much microplastic there is per area trawled.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), as mapped by The Ocean Cleanup in 2015-2016.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch in Numbers - Infographic
Composition of the inner GPGP. Currently, about 5-10% of its mass is microplastics.
The journey of floating ocean plastic from rivers to garbage patches
Future scenarios for macroplastics in the GPGP. The dark band shows what would happen without any change. Addressing the source (left) causes the amount of ocean pollution to stay constant. Combining source reduction with cleanup (right) causes the amount of ocean pollution to decline.

Projection of floating plastic mass in ocean surface layer
Age distribution of floating plastic objects found in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Modeled age distribution of plastic