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Created page with "{{Short description|Dutch non-profit developing technologies to extract ocean plastic}} {{Infobox organization | name = The Ocean Cleanup | image = | caption = | founder = Boyan Slat | founded = {{start date and age|2013}} | type = Non-profit, NGO | headquarters = Rotterdam, Netherlands | area_served = Worldwide | purp..."

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{{Short description|Dutch non-profit developing technologies to extract ocean plastic}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = The Ocean Cleanup
| image =
| caption =
| founder = [[Boyan Slat]]
| founded = {{start date and age|2013}}
| type = [[Non-profit organization|Non-profit]], [[Non-governmental organization|NGO]]
| headquarters = [[Rotterdam]], [[Netherlands]]
| area_served = Worldwide
| purpose = Removal of [[marine plastic pollution]]
| key_people = [[Boyan Slat]] ([[Chief executive officer|CEO]])
| website = {{URL|https://theoceancleanup.com/}}
}}

'''The Ocean Cleanup''' is a Dutch [[non-governmental organization|non-profit]] environmental engineering organization based in [[Rotterdam]], [[Netherlands]]. Founded in 2013 by Dutch inventor [[Boyan Slat]], the organization designs and deploys technological systems to extract [[plastic waste]] from oceans and intercept trash in rivers before it reaches marine ecosystems.<ref name="TOCAbout">{{cite web |title=About The Ocean Cleanup |url=https://theoceancleanup.com/about/ |website=The Ocean Cleanup |access-date=17 February 2026}}</ref>

The foundation operates a dual-strategy approach: cleaning up historical plastic accumulation in ocean gyres—primarily the [[Great Pacific Garbage Patch]]—while simultaneously deploying automated river barriers (known as "Interceptors") in polluting rivers globally to prevent new waste influxes.<ref name="TOCDualStrategy">{{cite news |last=Caminiti |first=Susan |title=Why Peter Thiel believes in this 22-year-old's dream to clean up the oceans |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/20/thiel-benioff-backing-22-year-olds-dream-to-clean-up-worlds-oceans.html |work=CNBC |date=22 April 2017 |access-date=17 February 2026}}</ref>

== History ==
The concept for The Ocean Cleanup originated in 2011 when 16-year-old Boyan Slat went [[scuba diving]] in Greece and noticed more plastic bags than fish in the water.<ref name="HowItBegan">{{cite web |title=How it all began |url=https://theoceancleanup.com/milestones/how-it-all-began/ |website=The Ocean Cleanup |access-date=17 February 2026}}</ref> Slat conducted a high school research project on marine debris and presented his idea for a passive ocean current cleanup system at a [[TEDx]] talk in [[Delft]] in October 2012.<ref name="TEDxDelft">{{cite web |title=How the oceans can clean themselves: Boyan Slat at TEDxDelft |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROW9F-c0kIQ |website=YouTube |date=24 October 2012 |access-date=17 February 2026}}</ref>

After the video went viral on social media in early 2013, Slat dropped out of his [[aerospace engineering]] studies at [[Delft University of Technology|TU Delft]] to officially register The Ocean Cleanup as a non-profit foundation.<ref name="HowItBegan" /> In 2014, the organization launched a global crowdfunding campaign that raised US$2.2 million from 38,000 supporters across 159 countries, allowing for initial engineering trials and feasibility testing.<ref name="Crowdfund">{{cite web |title=Crowd Funding Campaign |url=https://theoceancleanup.com/milestones/crowd-funding-campaign/ |website=The Ocean Cleanup |access-date=17 February 2026}}</ref>

== Technology and operations ==

=== Ocean Cleanup Systems ===
The organization's ocean strategy targets dynamic ocean gyres where floating marine plastics aggregate into high-density zones.<ref name="GPGP">{{cite news |last=Bendix |first=Aria |title=A device invented by a 25-year-old is finally catching trash in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/ocean-cleanup-plastic-products-great-pacific-garbage-patch-2019-12 |work=Business Insider |date=12 December 2019 |access-date=17 February 2026}}</ref>

* '''System 001 (Wilson):''' Launched from San Francisco in September 2018 towards the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, this 600-metre-long (2,000 ft) floating U-shaped barrier encountered mechanical fatigue and retention issues, breaking apart in January 2019 and returning to port for repairs.<ref name="WaPo2019">{{cite news |last=Guarino |first=Ben |title=Experts warned this floating garbage collector wouldn't work. The ocean proved them right |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/01/17/experts-warned-this-floating-garbage-collector-wouldnt-work-ocean-proved-them-right/ |work=The Washington Post |date=17 January 2019 |access-date=17 February 2026}}</ref>
* '''System 001/B:''' Deployed in June 2019, this iteration incorporated a parachute sea anchor to slow down the barrier speed, successfully proving for the first time that microplastics and macroplastics could be passively trapped by the mechanism.<ref name="GPGP" />
* '''System 002 (Jenny):''' Introduced in 2021, System 002 transitioned from a passive drift mechanism to an active, vessel-towed cleanup barrier spanning 800 metres (2,600 ft). Between 2021 and 2022, it extracted over 62,000 pounds (28,000 kg) of debris.<ref name="Refractor003">{{cite web |title=Ocean Cleanup moves beyond testing and outlines a system 3x the size |url=https://refractor.io/environment/ocean-cleanup-pacific-garbage-patch-system-003/ |website=Refractor |access-date=17 February 2026}}</ref>
* '''System 03:''' Deployed in late 2023, System 03 expanded the barrier length to roughly 2,200 metres (7,200 ft), featuring AI-driven monitoring software and sonar to avoid fish catch. By 2024, the organization confirmed it had removed over 1 million pounds (450,000 kg) of trash from the Pacific.<ref name="TOCPress1M">{{cite web |title=The Great Pacific Garbage Patch can be Cleaned for $7.5 Billion |url=https://theoceancleanup.com/press/press-releases/the-great-pacific-garbage-patch-can-be-cleaned-for-7-5-billion/ |website=The Ocean Cleanup |access-date=17 February 2026}}</ref>

=== River Interceptors ===
[[File:Interceptor Original 007.jpg|thumb|Interceptor 007 deployed in Los Angeles, California.]]

In October 2019, The Ocean Cleanup presented "The Interceptor", an automated, solar-powered vessel designed to trap garbage in rivers before reaching open waters.<ref name="InterceptorLaunch">{{cite web |title=Boyan Slat unveils the Interceptor River Cleanup system |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyZArQMFhQ4 |website=YouTube |date=27 October 2019 |access-date=17 February 2026}}</ref> According to research conducted by the organization, approximately 1,000 rivers worldwide account for nearly 80% of total riverine plastic discharge into oceans.<ref name="Dashboard">{{cite web |title=Ocean and River Cleanup Dashboard |url=https://theoceancleanup.com/dashboard/ |website=The Ocean Cleanup |access-date=17 February 2026}}</ref>

The Interceptor utilizes floating barrier arms to guide river trash onto an internal conveyor belt, which distributes debris across six internal dumpsters on a barge platform. As of mid-2026, Interceptors and custom river barrier variants have been deployed across river systems in [[Indonesia]], [[Malaysia]], [[Dominican Republic]], [[Vietnam]], [[Thailand]], [[Guatemala]], [[United States]], [[Jamaica]], [[Panama]], [[Honduras]], [[India]], and [[Philippines]].<ref name="Dashboard" />

== Funding and partnerships ==
The Ocean Cleanup is financed primarily through philanthropic donations, sponsorships, and institutional grants. Early major financial supporters included [[Salesforce.com|Salesforce]] founder [[Marc Benioff]], venture capitalist [[Peter Thiel]], [[Julius Baer]], and [[Deloitte]].<ref name="TOCDualStrategy" />

In 2026, the organization was selected as an Audacious Project grantee, receiving US$121 million in funding dedicated to expanding its "30 Cities Program" for river plastic interception.<ref name="TheTimes2026">{{cite news |title=My Invention Makes Ocean Plastic The Worlds Cheapest Problem To Solve |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/environment/article/my-invention-makes-ocean-plastic-the-worlds-cheapest-problem-to-solve-0ktdl5x09 |work=The Times |access-date=17 February 2026}}</ref>

== Reception and scientific criticism ==
While praised widely in popular media for its technological innovation and ambition, The Ocean Cleanup has faced scrutiny from oceanographers and marine biologists.<ref name="DeepSeaNews">{{cite web |last=McClain |first=Craig |title=The Continued Boondoggle of the Ocean Cleanup |url=https://www.deepseanews.com/2019/01/boondoggle-ocean-cleanup/ |website=Deep Sea News |date=6 January 2019 |access-date=17 February 2026}}</ref> Key criticisms have included:

* '''Pleuston and Marine Life Impact:''' Scientists raised concerns that floating barriers risk trapping surface-dwelling marine organisms ([[pleuston]]) like ''[[Velella]]'' (by-the-wind sailors), ''[[Janthina]]'' snails, and larval fish.<ref name="GuardianFeasibility">{{cite news |last=Kratochwill |first=Lindsey |title=Too good to be true? The Ocean Cleanup Project faces feasibility questions |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/26/ocean-cleanup-project-environment-pollution-boyan-slat |work=The Guardian |date=26 March 2016 |access-date=17 February 2026}}</ref>
* '''Carbon Footprint:''' Critics questioned whether towing large cleanup booms using diesel-powered vessels produced disproportionate carbon emissions relative to the weight of plastic collected.<ref name="WaPo2019" />
* '''Upstream Focus:''' Environmental activists argued that resource prioritization should focus primarily on reducing land-based plastic production and waste management infrastructure rather than offshore retrieval.<ref name="DeepSeaNews" />

In response, The Ocean Cleanup introduced environmental impact assessments (EIAs), integrated camera and AI-based marine mammal monitoring systems, and increased focus on river-based Interceptors to capture trash before it enters open oceans.<ref name="TOCAbout" /><ref name="Dashboard" />

== See also ==
* [[Boyan Slat]]
* [[Marine plastic pollution]]
* [[Great Pacific Garbage Patch]]
* [[Plastic recycling]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|The Ocean Cleanup}}
* {{Official website|https://theoceancleanup.com/}}
* [https://theoceancleanup.com/dashboard/ Live Cleanup Dashboard]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ocean Cleanup, The}}
[[Category:The Ocean Cleanup| ]]
[[Category:2013 establishments in the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Non-profit organizations based in the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Plastics and the environment]]
[[Category:Environmental non-governmental organizations]]
[[Category:Marine conservation organizations]]

The Ocean Cleanup - Revision history