The Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit organization renowned for addressing ocean pollution, has set an ambitious goal: to eliminate the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by 2034.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch has plastic waste weighing approximately 79,000 metric tons. The Ocean Cleanup has made it their mission to tackle this issue, one piece of trash at a time. In a recent press release, founder and CEO Boyan Slat emphasized the feasibility of cleaning up the oceans. “Today’s announcement is clear: clean oceans can be achieved in a manageable time and for a clear cost,” he said.
Slat pointed out that, after ten years of development, the organization now has the technology and knowledge necessary to combat this crisis. However, the estimated $7.5 billion needed to complete the task underscores the magnitude of the challenge.
The plastic patch continues to grow, making cleanup efforts increasingly urgent. To address the issue, The Ocean Cleanup has developed innovative technologies to remove plastic waste. Their latest system, known as System 03, consists of a 1.4-mile-long floating barrier, which is towed between two vessels to collect the plastic.
Despite their efforts, progress has been slow. To date, The Ocean Cleanup has removed one million pounds of trash from the patch—only 0.5% of the total. However, the organization remains optimistic, with plans to significantly scale up operations and eliminate the entire garbage patch within the next decade. One of their key strategies for next year involves creating a “hotspot” map to identify areas of the ocean where plastic accumulation is most intense.
The organization also put the $7.5 billion price tag into perspective. While the figure may seem daunting, it’s less than a month of profits for Apple, or a sixth of the bonus awarded to Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Slat added that annual U.S. spending on Halloween decorations alone exceeds $10 billion.
Slat suggested that with advancements in their technology, the cleanup timeline could shrink to just five years, at $4 billion.
“We call upon the world to relegate the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to the history books. This environmental catastrophe has been allowed to exist, unresolved, for too long, and for the first time, we can tell the world what it costs, what is needed, and how long it could take,” he suggested.
Slat emphasized that the only remaining barrier is financial, stating: “The only thing standing between us and clean oceans is money.”
