The Ocean Cleanup

The Situation
Plastic pollution is one of the most consequential environmental problems that has been significantly impacting the environment, wildlife, human health, the economy, mainly with marine life. It disrupts habitats, contributes to climate change, and can spread invasive species in the bodies of water. Plastic makes up about 80% of marine pollution, with less than 0.5% of the world's total plastic waste ending up in the ocean annually.
Many marine species mistake plastic for food, which can block their digestive systems, cause internal injuries, or lead to a false sense of fullness that results in starvation. It also affects the life cycle of marine animals such as damaging their coral reefs, introducing microplastics into their food chain, and releasing harmful chemicals that contaminate the environment. Over 100,000 metric tons of floating plastic has accumulated around 1.6 million square kilometers in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, or GPGP for short.

Plastic bags or netting draped over coral can introduce bacteria, increasing the likelihood of dangerous diseases by 20 times, thus potentially causing the collapse of entire ecosystems. It's estimated that over 100,000 marine animals die each year from plastic waste. On the contrary, the production of plastic from fossil fuels contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, and the incineration of plastic waste releases more pollutants into the atmosphere and into the water. From all the disastrous effects and many harmful problems from plastic, you might wonder if this would be such a global situation if we all stopped using and producing plastic in the first place? It may seem like a simple concept to stop the production and use of plastic, however that is not the case as plastics basically pervades all aspects of society. Plastic is everywhere around us. We sleep on plastic-filled pillows, and eat food with plastic cutlery. It is impossible to go through a day without encountering plastic of some kind. Not using plastic is difficult to stop using because it is cheap, lightweight, and durable, making it a convenient and omnipresent material in everything from packaging and clothing, to infrastructure. Our modern society has become dependent on single-use plastics for convenience, and alternatives are more expensive. Therefore, approximately 0.5% of global plastic waste ends up in the ocean each year. This equates to about 1 to 2 million tons of plastic entering the oceans annually from a total of around 350 million tons of plastic waste produced. To summarize, the lack of awareness, cost, recycling challenges, and individual action all play a part in highly affecting the level of plastic waste in our oceans.

The Beginning
Plastic is a loose term for describing materials that can be formed and moulded under heat and pressure. Before the synthetic plastic we produce now, tortoiseshell, amber, rubber and shellac have been worked with since antiquity during the 20th century. It was used for many purposes and products, from medallions to cutlery. Then, in 1907, Leo Baekeland created the first fully synthetic plastic called Bakelite by combining formaldehyde and phenol under heat and pressure. It had a dark brown, wood-like appearance but could be easily mass-produced, making it ideal for bringing new design trends such as Art Deco to the masses. Baekeland's success spurred major chemical companies to invest heavily in polymer research, leading to an "outpouring" of new plastics. During the second world war, it accelerated plastic production as plastics replaced scarce natural resources like silk (with nylon for parachutes) and natural rubber (with synthetics for tires and insulation for radar cables). It was the 70’s when people started taking notice of the amount of plastic they litter. They saw lakes and oceans covered with disposal plastic and their streets trashed. Today, people are now focused on recycling, bioplastics, and finding sustainable solutions to the waste crisis caused by a material that has become essential to modern life.

Taking Action
How was one of the most sustainable and innovative pieces of technology ever made in the beginning? How did this impactful non-profit organization all start? It all began from a simple question asked by a 16-year-old Dutch high school student, Boyan Slat, who was surprised to see more plastic bags than fish while scuba diving in Greece in 2011. When Boyan noticed all the plastic bags and trash floating on the surface, and sunken in the ocean, it left him thinking, “Why can’t we just clean this up?”. This question left him curious enough to study this topic of waste in oceans. That initial shock prompted Slat to research ocean plastic pollution for a high school science project. During his first few years with his project, he was focusing on trying to understand the problem, and to map it out. This has allowed him to develop their solutions in order to counter these waste problems. In the late 2012s when he was 18 years old, Boyan Slat went to a TEDx Conference to present his ideas, at first, his ideas were as innovative as the others. He proposed using the natural ocean currents to concentrate the debris in one place, acting like an artificial coastline. However, in February 2013, the TEDx video of the conference went viral on Youtube, the momentum that followed allowed him to drop out of his Aerospace Engineering degree to officially start The Ocean Cleanup. The widespread interest led to a successful crowdfunding campaign that raised over $2 million, funding a year-long feasibility study and bringing his innovative idea to life. From there, the organization grew, attracting a team of scientists and engineers to research, develop, and test technologies for both ocean and river cleanup, with the ultimate goal of removing plastic from the world's oceans. Boyan Slat is currently a Dutch inventor and entrepreneur, passionate about creating megaprojects to address planetary problems. Currently, The Ocean Cleanup is trying their hardest to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. They deployed Interceptors in some of the world’s most polluting rivers to prevent plastic reaching the ocean in the first place. A method of how they make an effort of clearing oceans is by removing existing plastic from oceans and rivers and preventing new plastic from entering. It protects marine ecosystems by cleaning up legacy debris, which prevents the formation of microplastics that harm wildlife and reduces the ocean’s ability to sequester carbon.The Ocean Clean current goal is to collect about 90% of floating ocean plastic pollution by 2040.