The Ocean Cleanup to Complete 100th Extraction Live From the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

• The Ocean Cleanup marks 100^th extraction of plastic pollution from the Pacific Ocean by livestreaming entire cleaning operation from start to finish.
• Occasion brings together supporters, partners, donors and followers as the project readies its cleanup technology for scale-up.

• Founder and CEO Boyan Slat to provide insight on the plans ahead.

Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 23 May 2024: The Ocean Cleanup is set to reach a milestone of 100 plastic extractions from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Extraction #100, scheduled for 28 or 29 May 2024, will be the first ever to be livestreamed direct from the Pacific Ocean, allowing supporters and partners around the world to see up close how the organization has removed over 385,000 kilograms (nearly 850,000 lbs) of plastic from the GPGP so far – more than double the bare weight of the Statue of Liberty.

The mission of The Ocean Cleanup is to rid the oceans of plastic. To do this, the non-profit project employs a dual strategy: cleaning up legacy floating plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (the world’s largest accumulation of floating plastic), while stopping the flow of plastic from the world’s most polluting rivers.

The Ocean Cleanup captured its first plastic (the first ‘extraction’) in the GPGP in 2019 with System 001, following years of trials and testing with a variety of concepts. Through System 002 and now the larger and more efficient System 03, the organization has consistently improved and optimized operations, and is now preparing to extract plastic trash from the GPGP for the 100th time.
Extraction #100 will be an interactive broadcast showing the entire extraction procedure live and in detail, with insight provided by representatives from across The Ocean Cleanup and partners contributing to the operations.

‘This is an important milestone in a key year for The Ocean Cleanup.’ said Boyan Slat, Founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup. ‘We’ve come a long way since our first extraction in 2019. During the 2024 season, with System 03, we aim to demonstrate that we are ready to scale up, and with it, confine the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to the history books.’

The live stream will be hosted on The Ocean Cleanup’s YouTube channel and via X. Monitor @theoceancleanup for confirmed timings.

DOWNLOADS
Photos, illustrations, and videos on The Ocean Cleanup can be found in the general media gallery (here). This media gallery features images and videos of all our GPGP cleaning technology, including our latest, System 03.

A recent (8 April 2024) plastic extraction from the GPGP can be viewed on our Instagram page here.

ABOUT THE OCEAN CLEANUP
The Ocean Cleanup is an international non-profit organization that develops and scales technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. They aim to achieve this goal through a dual strategy: intercepting in rivers to stop the flow and cleaning up what has already accumulated in the ocean. For the latter, The Ocean Cleanup develops and deploys large-scale systems to efficiently concentrate the plastic for periodic removal. This plastic is tracked and traced to certify claims of origin when recycling it into new products. To curb the tide via rivers, The Ocean Cleanup has developed Interceptor™ Solutions to halt and extract riverine plastic before it reaches the ocean. Per may 2024, the organization has collected over 11 million kilos (24 million lbs) of plastic from aquatic ecosystems around the world. Founded in 2013 by Boyan Slat, The Ocean Cleanup now employs a broadly multi-disciplined team of approximately 140. The foundation is headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and opened its first regional office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2023.

PRESS CONTACTS
CFF Communications, Amsterdam
Niels Broekhof
press@theoceancleanup.com
+31 (0)6 30 37 49 30

U.S. Media Representative, San Francisco
Alan Dunton
adunton@shiftcomm.com
+1 415-290-8219

For more information visit theoceancleanup.com and follow @theoceancleanup on social media.