In particular, millions of tons of plastic waste that enters the ocean through rivers won't disappear on its own. In order to solve this issue, we need to clean up and turn off the tap .

 

The Dutch-based organization called Ocean Cleanup embarked on perhaps one of the most ambitious jobs in human history. Their aim is to clean up all the plastic waste that has accumulated in the Great Pacific Garbage Site, also called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and furthermore, rehabilitate thousands of rivers that are the source of waste and prevent more plastic from coming in.

 

 

Ocean Cleanup has an interesting story. The founding father of the project, Boyan Slat, who was 18 at the time, shared his idea with the audience during a Ted-Talk talk in 2012. Slat's initial design was inspired by the body structure of monk fish. The design went through many revisions and trials over time and was finally brought to life in 2018 with the code name "Wilson", inspired by the floating volleyball in the movie New Life starring Tom Hanks.

 

 

Ocean Cleanup consists of two different systems. The Ocean System is a system consisting of long, floating barriers anchored to the seafloor, connected to a central platform, that collects plastic from the water and directs it to a central platform. The second part is an Interceptor working on rivers. This solar-powered system recognizes the plastic waste in the river and directs it to containers without mixing with the ocean.

 

 

Of course, there are criticisms of Ocean Cleanup, which has received more than $35 million in donations to date. There are opinions that it would be more economical to carry out this work close to the shore, that the systems used could harm sea creatures, and most importantly, that it wouldn't be possible to solve the whole problem with such approaches. On the other hand, everyone seems to agree that the awareness created by the project is invaluable.

 

As of July 2022, Ocean Cleanup removed 100,000 kgs of plastic in total from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and will cease operations the day it collects the last plastic in the ocean. Let's hope that day comes sooner than we think.

 

Photographs: The Ocean Clenup