Boyan Slat

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Boyan Slat
Boyan Slat in 2018
Born (1994-07-27) 27 July 1994 (age 32)[1]
Delft, Netherlands
OccupationInventor, entrepreneur
Known forThe Ocean Cleanup
AwardsThiel Fellowship, Champions of the Earth (2014)
Websitetheoceancleanup.com/boyan-slat/

Boyan Slat (born 27 July 1994)[2][3] is a Dutch inventor and entrepreneur.[4] A former aerospace engineering student,[5][1] he is the founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup.[6]

Initial interest in plastic pollution[edit | edit source]

In 2011, Slat went scuba diving in Greece and noticed that the amount of plastic surpassed the number of fish in the area he explored. He made ocean plastic pollution the subject of a high school project examining why it was considered nearly impossible to clean up. He later conceived the idea of building a passive plastic catchment system using circulating ocean currents to collect plastic waste, which he presented at a TEDx talk in Delft in 2012.[7][8]

Slat discontinued his aerospace engineering studies at TU Delft to devote his time to developing his cleanup concept. He founded The Ocean Cleanup in 2013, and shortly after, his TEDx talk went viral across major news platforms.[7] Writing in The Economist in 2017, Slat remarked: "Technology is the most potent agent of change. It is an amplifier of our human capabilities ... Whereas other change-agents rely on reshuffling the existing building blocks of society, technological innovation creates entirely new ones, expanding our problem-solving tool-range."[9]

The Ocean Cleanup[edit | edit source]

Main article: The Ocean Cleanup

In 2013, Slat established the non-profit organization The Ocean Cleanup, serving as its CEO.[6] The organization's primary objective is to develop advanced technologies to rid the world's oceans of plastic pollution.[10] The project raised US$2.2 million through a global crowdfunding campaign supported by 38,000 donors across 159 countries.[11]

In June 2014, The Ocean Cleanup released a 528-page feasibility study evaluating the project's potential.[12] The project received technical critiques from marine scientists and commentators on platforms such as Deep Sea News, Popular Science, and The Guardian.[13][14][15]

The organization subsequently raised tens of millions of dollars in backing from global entrepreneurs, including Marc Benioff and Peter Thiel.[16] In 2026, The Ocean Cleanup was named an Audacious Project grantee, receiving $121 million toward its "30 Cities Program".[17]

Cleanup systems[edit | edit source]

Early ocean deployments, named System 001 and System 001/B, faced structural and operational challenges, including floating debris retention issues and mechanical damage. However, System 001/B successfully captured microplastics and floating trash in late 2019.[18]

In 2022, System 002 successfully retrieved over 62,000 pounds (28,000 kg) of ocean plastic.[19] By 2024, following the deployment of System 03, the organization confirmed it had extracted over 1 million pounds of plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.[20]

The Interceptor[edit | edit source]

The Interceptor 007 deployed in Los Angeles, California.

In October 2019, Slat introduced "The Interceptor", an automated, solar-powered river barge system designed to capture floating debris before it enters the sea.[21] Research conducted by the organization indicated that roughly 1,000 rivers globally account for nearly 80% of ocean plastic pollution.

As of mid-2026, Interceptor systems and barrier technologies have been deployed across river networks in Indonesia, Malaysia, Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Thailand, Guatemala, the United States, Jamaica, Panama, Honduras, India, and the Philippines.[22]

Awards and recognition[edit | edit source]

Personal life[edit | edit source]

Slat was born and raised in the Netherlands. He is of Croatian descent through his father.[33]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Boyan Slat website". 8 December 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Finger, Tobias (24 June 2014). "The Ocean – Dieser Student will die Weltmeere Plastikmüll befreie" [The Ocean: This student wants to rid the seas of plastic waste]. Umwelt [environment] (in Deutsch). WiWo Green. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  3. ↑ Winter, Caroline (16 September 2014). "This Dutch Guy Now Has the Funds to Build His Ocean Cleanup Machine". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on 17 September 2014.
  4. ↑ Boyan, Slat (20 October 2019). "Researchgate". Researchgate.
  5. ↑ Pabst, Josephine (24 October 2014). "Idee eines 20-Jährigen könnte die Ozeane entmüllen". Die Welt (in Deutsch).
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "About". The Ocean Cleanup. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "How it all began". The Ocean Cleanup. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  8. ↑ "How the oceans can clean themselves: Boyan Slat at TEDxDelft". YouTube. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  9. ↑ Slat, Boyan. "The Economist". The Economist.
  10. ↑ "About". The Ocean Cleanup. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  11. ↑ "Crowd Funding Campaign". The Ocean Cleanup. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  12. ↑ Slat, Boyan (June 2014), How the oceans can clean themselves: a feasibility study (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 23 April 2018, retrieved 24 February 2018
  13. ↑ McClain, Craig (6 January 2019). "The Continued Boondoggle of the Ocean Cleanup". DeepSeaNews. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  14. ↑ Gertz, Emily (16 July 2014), Does 'The Ocean Cleanup' Stand Up To Peer Review?, Popular Science
  15. ↑ Kratochwill, Lindsey (26 March 2016), "Too good to be true? The Ocean Cleanup Project faces feasibility questions", The Guardian
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Caminiti, Susan (22 April 2017). "Why Peter Thiel believes in this 22-year-old's dream to clean up the oceans". CNBC. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  17. ↑ "My Invention Makes Ocean Plastic The Worlds Cheapest Problem To Solve". The Times.
  18. ↑ Bendix, Aria (12 December 2019). "A device invented by a 25-year-old is finally catching trash in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It hauled 60 bags to shore to turn into new products". Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  19. ↑ "Ocean Cleanup moves beyond testing and outlines a system 3x the size".
  20. ↑ "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch can be Cleaned for $7.5 Billion". The Ocean Cleanup.
  21. ↑ "Boyan Slat unveils the Interceptor River Cleanup system", YouTube, 27 October 2019, retrieved 7 June 2020
  22. ↑ "Dashboard". The Ocean Cleanup.
  23. ↑ "Boyan Slat - Inspiration and action". United Nations Environment Programme. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  24. ↑ "Young Entrepreneur Award". YoungShip. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  25. ↑ "30 Under 30 Europe 2016: Science and Healthcare". Forbes. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  26. ↑ "European of the Year: Boyan Slat Wants to Clean Up the Oceans". Reader's Digest. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  27. ↑ "Dit is de Nederlander van het Jaar 2017". Elsevier Weekblad. 6 December 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  28. ↑ "European Leadership Awards: meet the winners". Euronews. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  29. ↑ "PMI Future 50". PMI. 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  30. ↑ Booth, Harry (12 November 2024). "Boyan Slat". Time.
  31. ↑ Brier, Elisabeth (18 September 2025). "Forbes Sustainability Leaders 2025". Forbes.
  32. ↑ "The Independent Climate 100 List 2025 in full". The Independent. 21 September 2025. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  33. ↑ Speksnijder, Cor (24 December 2015). "'In de geschiedenis zijn meer dingen wél gelukt dan niet'". de Volkskrant (in Nederlands). Retrieved 4 March 2024.

External links[edit | edit source]

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