Milestones

The future

• Beyond System 003

  Scale-up in oceans

  Scale-up in oceans

  Having taken the learnings from System 002 and applying them to subsequent iterations of the technology, we will scale up in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. With this blueprint for scale-up, we will look to deploy a fleet of systems into all the other four ocean gyres.

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The present

• 2021

  System 002

  System 002

  After successful trials in 2021, System 002 has proven our ocean cleanup technology works, and we will continue to harvest more plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch until the completion of System 003. Follow our progress here.

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The past

• 2020

  Recycled The First Plastic Catch

  Recycled The First Plastic Catch

  Since the initial pitch of The Ocean Cleanup, before it was even The Ocean Cleanup, there has always been a plan to do something meaningful with the plastic we remove from the ocean, to help fund the continuation of the cleanup. On October 24th, 2020, we launched our first product: The Ocean Cleanup sunglasses.

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• June – November 2019

  System 001/B – Catching the First Plastic

  System 001/B – Catching the First Plastic

  Using the lessons learned from the System 001 mission (2018), we were able to address the two main issues observed, plastic retention and structural integrity, with the design of System 001/B. System 001/B validated the core concept of our ocean cleanup technology and caught our first batch of ocean plastic.

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• 2018

  System 001 – First Ocean Cleanup System

  System 001 – First Ocean Cleanup System

  On September 8, 2018, The Ocean Cleanup launched its first cleanup system, System 001, into the North Pacific to trial the technology in its intended environment. The team was able to conduct extensive testing; but, after four months offshore, the decision was made to return to port to further analyze the challenges encountered offshore. The learnings from System 001 brought us one step closer to proven technology and laid the foundation for future design iterations.

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• 2016

  First North Sea Prototype

  First North Sea Prototype

  In June 2016, we put our barrier to the test in the open ocean for the first time. The North Sea was a great test environment, due to its strong tidal currents, and short, steep wave patterns.

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• 2015

  Scale model testing

  Scale model testing

  Executing a series of scale model tests to determine the loads, dynamics and cleanup efficiency of our floating barrier system.

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