Updates

Research

The Quest to Find the Missing Plastic

For the last five years, researchers at The Ocean Cleanup have been working to understand the scope of ocean plastic pollution in order to help the organization effectively design technology…

Team

The Ocean Cleanup Names Chris Worp Managing Director – Joins Management Team

Following the swift growth of the organization and the expanded scope of responsibilities, we have decided to strengthen the Management Team. As from today, Chris Worp, who has been with…

Engineering, Oceans

Into the Twilight Zone

We have completed our test campaign with System 001/B . A consistent speed through the plastic has been achieved using the parachute anchor configuration, therefore, solving our main technical challenge…

General

European Commission Appoints Boyan Slat as Board Member of Horizon Europe’s Healthy Ocean Mission

Boyan Slat, CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, has been appointed as one of the board members of the ocean mission in the European Commission’s Horizon Europe program. The mission of…

Oceans

System 001/B – The Mission Plan

In our last update, we shared the modifications to our system design and how we plan to test them in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch this summer. Now, only one month…

Environment, Research

Mission One Environmental Monitoring Results Available

The Ocean Cleanup is developing advanced technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. The passive drifting system, also known as System 001 or “Wilson”, was deployed in the Great…

Engineering, Oceans

System Design Upgrades Completed, to be Relaunched in June

After the root cause analysis was finalized, the engineering team began working on solutions that we can start trialing in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in June. The upgraded design,…

Environment, Oceans, Research

Whales likely impacted by Great Pacific Garbage Patch

A scientific note we published on April 09, 2019 reports the records of whales within the world’s largest accumulation of floating ocean plastic: the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Over the…

Engineering, Oceans

System 001 Learnings – Root Causes Summarized

In September, we launched our first system, with the aim of achieving proof of technology and commencing cleanup. Twenty years after the discovery of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, this…

Discussion, Environment, General

The Ocean Cleanup and the Neuston

On January 22, an opinion piece was published in The Atlantic, originally titled “The Ocean Cleanup Project Could Destroy the Neuston.” Since preventing the destruction of ocean ecosystems is the…