The Ocean Cleanup Research Team continues to analyze data from our expeditions, including our Mega Expedition which provided us with the largest sample of ocean plastic ever collected (1.1 million particles weighing approximately one ton). One of the many experiments conducted was measuring the rising speed of plastic...
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Sticking to its planning, The Ocean Cleanup team is working hard on its long-term goal to initiate the full-scale cleanup of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by 2020. To ensure optimization of our technology, we test and evaluate the barriers’ capability and survivability in multiple ways. Among others, we investigate how the...
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It is a commonly held belief that plastic pollution is spread from ocean surface to seabed. Our newest study, published today in Nature Scientific Reports, shows that at least for buoyant plastic bigger than a sand grain (0.5mm), this is not the case, primarily residing on or near the surface. It also reveals that conventional methods to...
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The Aerial Expedition is about to begin! In a few days we will start conducting visual surveys, supplemented with state-of-art sensors to quantify the biggest and most harmful type of marine debris: ghost nets. It is the most important missing piece of the puzzle remaining after last year’s Mega Expedition. On September 26, our...
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During a recent inspection of the North Sea prototype we noticed something unusual: the two outermost air chambers seemed to be bent out of shape - they did not follow the gentle U-shape of the boom. Thanks to underwater footage we were quickly able to diagnose the problem. It turns out the problem was caused by failing shackles –...
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We are proud to announce The Ocean Cleanup’s next major research mission: the Aerial Expedition. In September and October 2016, we will conduct a series of low-speed, low-altitude flights across the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in a C-130 Hercules aircraft, using expert spotters and state-of-the-art sensors. Our aim is to accurately...
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First sea trial of ocean cleanup system to be deployed this week THE HAGUE, June 22, 2016 – The Ocean Cleanup, the Dutch foundation developing advanced technologies to rid the oceans of plastic, today unveiled its North Sea prototype. When installed later this week, the prototype will become the first ocean cleanup system ever...
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The Ocean Cleanup is pleased to announce Allard van Hoeken has joined the organization as Chief Operating Officer, taking up the challenge of managing the development of The Ocean Cleanup’s technology towards execution. Allard has joined the Management Team of The Ocean Cleanup and will be responsible for the organization’s...
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How we design a system that does not ‘fight the ocean’, but rather ‘moves with it’?
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One of the main issues we are tackling at The Ocean Cleanup is to determine where, and in what concentrations, plastic pollution is distributed throughout the oceans. In order to clean up the worlds’ ocean garbage patches effectively, we need to get a crystal clear picture of where we should start. To achieve this, we are building...
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