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Cleaning the oceans

Projects

We aim to put ourselves out of business

The Ocean Cleanup is an international non-profit project developing and scaling technologies to rid the oceans of plastic. To achieve this goal, we employ a dual strategy: intercepting in rivers to tackle the sources of ocean plastic pollution, and cleaning up what has already accumulated in the ocean and will not go away by itself.

  • Oceans

    Millions of pieces of plastic are accumulated in garbage patches around the world. The Ocean Cleanup is currently removing plastic in the largest of these areas, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

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  • Rivers

    Most ocean plastic pollution comes from rivers. Our Interceptors are deployed around the world capturing trash as we implement our plan to tackle the world’s 1000 most polluting rivers.

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Supporting activities
and progress tracking

  • Impact Dashboard

    Impact Dashboard

    See the live status of our Interceptors in rivers around the world and follow our ocean system as we continue harvesting plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

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  • Marine protection
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    Marine protection

    We aim to benefit the marine environment and the life that inhabits it. Protecting the marine environment and its wildlife is at the forefront of our design, operations and strategy.

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  • Catch Management

    Catch Management

    We see the plastic we catch as a valuable resource. Learn more about what we do with it to ensure that it doesn’t find its way back to the oceans.

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  • Researching ocean plastic

    Researching ocean plastic

    We conduct research to better understand plastic pollution, and how to solve it. The Ocean Cleanup has published many open-access publications that help enrich the global knowledge of plastic pollution.

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  • Global Public Affairs

    Global Public Affairs

    Plastic pollution is a problem we can’t tackle alone. See how we support global efforts to End Plastic Pollution through partnerships and by sharing our knowledge, data and experience to inform policy and decision making processes - such as the new UN Global Plastics Treaty.

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  • Goals and milestones

    Goals and milestones

    Since The Ocean Cleanup’s journey began in 2013, millions of tons of trash have been removed from oceans and rivers worldwide. See how far we’ve come—and how we plan to achieve our goal of cleaning up 90% of floating ocean plastic by 2040.

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