Time for Action Press Kit | The Ocean Cleanup

Please credit material as The Ocean Cleanup, unless specified otherwise in the corresponding caption.

For press inquiries please email press@theoceancleanup.com.

Our PR agencies are CFF Communications (Amsterdam, NL) and Shift Communications (San Francisco, US).

THE GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH CAN BE CLEANED FOR $7.5 BILLION

After 6 years of development and three years of extraction operations, The Ocean Cleanup declares the Great Pacific Garbage Patch can be eliminated

San Francisco, September 6, 2024 – The Ocean Cleanup, the non-profit developing and scaling technologies to rid the oceans of plastic, announces the eradication of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) achievable within a decade and an ambition to make the cleanup happen faster and more cost-effectively. The announcement is the first time both a cost and a timeline has been placed on ridding the Pacific Ocean of the environmental hazard presented by the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Six years since launching its first cleanup system, the organization has removed more than one million pounds of trash from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, or 0.5% of the total accumulated trash. The data and modeling of these and future operations conclusively prove that the problem is solvable within a decade and could be done in 5 years at a cost of $4bn. Presenters on stage: Boyan Slat (CEO and Founder).

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System 03 in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
System 02
Our second largest extraction from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
The two vessels, Tender & Trader, cruising below the Golden Gate Bridge as they return to port from the Pacific Ocean

Our founder and CEO, Boyan Slat, presenting the announcement to the media

The cost and time needed to clean up The Great Pacific Garbage Patch based on operations to date
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is large and persistent
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world and is located between Hawaii and California. Scientists of The Ocean Cleanup have conducted the most extensive analysis ever of this area
The cost and time needed to clean up The Great Pacific Garbage Patch indicated by data and modeling with the implementation of Hotspot Hunting
The cost to clean up The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, in perspective

Ocean plastic accumulates in five ocean garbage patches, the largest one being the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Floating plastics trapped in these patches will keep circulating until they break down into smaller and smaller pieces, becoming harder to clean up and increasingly easier to mistake for food by sealife. If left to circulate, the plastic will impact our ecosystems, health, and economies for decades or even centuries

Drone footage of vessels
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System 03 deployed for the first time into the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (August 2023).
Plastic catch onboard the support vessels of System 03
System 03's retention zone hauled on deck for emptying
System 03's retention zone hauled on deck for emptying
Aerial view of System 03

Plastic catch onboard the support vessels of System 03
Plastic catch onboard the support vessels of System 03
Plastic catch onboard the support vessels of System 03
Crew sorting plastic on deck after System 03 extraction
Crew sorting plastic on deck after System 03 extraction
The Ocean Cleanup is cleaning up plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the largest known accumulation zone of plastic. This patch is halfway between Hawaii and California **Pictured: System 03. The Ocean Cleanup plans to scale up to a total of 10 systems in order to effectively clean up this garbage patch**
Part of System 03 can be seen laying on deck, moments before being deployed in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
System 03 deployed for the first time into the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (August 2023). View from the Retention Zone.
System 03, also known as "Josh".
System 03's Retention Zone being inspected on deck. Human for scale.
The retention zone of System 03
Sorting of trash extracted by System 03 on deck