Marine Plastic Cleanup

The Ocean Cleanup was founded as a non-profit organization in 2013 by an 18-year-old Dutch inventor, Boyan Slat, with a mission to reduce 90% of floating ocean plastic by 2040.⁵ After several years of successful crowd funding campaigns, testing and research, The Ocean Cleanup launched System 001 on September 8, 2018 into the North Pacific Ocean.⁵ It was the first cleanup system to be launched into the Great Pacific Garbage Patch with the expedition lasting approximately four months.⁵ As expected, the organization learned a lot from System 001’s first launch and went straight to making improvements on its plastic collection technology which resulted in the creation of System 001/B.⁵ This new system was successful at capturing plastic debris, but the speed of collection was not quite up to par and was not feasible for meeting their 2040 goal.⁵ The team was then led to the creation of System 002, also called Jenny.⁵

On October 20^th 2021 , Jenny completed its 12-week trial run through the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and proved itself to be efficient and effective for transition to System 003 which would be the launch of a fleet of systems.⁵

Watch the video below to learn how System 002 operates as a plastic cleanup machine!

Why does plastic size matter?

Smaller plastics (i.e., microplastics and nanoplastics) are more difficult to clean up than macroplastics or megaplastics.⁵ Because of their size, it is also harder to estimate just how much is within the ocean, as well as perform research on their potential harm to aquatic species.⁴ Special technologies that are not easily accessible, such as nuclear and isotopic tools, are needed to reveal how micro and nanoplastics affect aquatic wildlife.⁴ However, it is conclusive that micro and nanoplastics are accidently consumed by aquatic species resulting in the propagation of tiny plastic particles within aquatic food chains--also known as bioaccumulation.⁴ The seafood that humans eat are not an exception to this process meaning humans could also be consuming plastics that may be negatively impacting our health!⁵

Plastics carry various chemical pollutants on their surfaces, and when they breakdown into micro and nanoplastics they pose a toxicological risk to the fish that consume them.⁶ A recent study published in the journal of Environmental Science & Technology stated that smaller plastics can affect the biological functions of fish, including neurological functions, metabolism and microbiome diversity.⁶ To fully understand the implications of nano and microplastics on aquatic and mammalian life, more research is needed.⁶

Because of the unknown risks smaller plastic particles can pose on the health of our environment and human populations, it is important that larger, floating plastics get cleaned up before they breakdown to a point where cleanup is substantially more difficult! Larger plastics can also increase the spread of invasive species and bacteria, potentially degrading ecosystems and negatively impacting environmental and human health.¹ Entanglement of wildlife is another risk that larger plastics are responsible for.⁵

Plastic Pollution Pathways

The Interceptor is a system that addresses the issue of plastics entering the ocean via river systems. Currently, this system is being used in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Dominican Republic.⁵ In order for The Interceptor to be utilized in various regions of the world, support from governments and river owners is needed as permits are required for operation.⁵

Watch the video below to see how The Interceptor operates!