How Much Would It Cost To Clean Up The Ocean

We develop and scale technologies to rid the oceans of plastic

Every year, millions of tons of plastic enter the oceans, of which the majority spills out from rivers. A portion of this plastic travels to ocean garbage patches, getting caught in a vortex of circulating currents. If no action is taken, the plastic will increasingly impact our ecosystems, health, and economies.

We aim to clean up 90% of floating ocean plastic pollution

The Ocean Cleanup is a non-profit organization developing and scaling technologies to rid the oceans of plastic. To achieve this objective, we have to work on a combination of closing the source and cleaning up what has already accumulated in the ocean and doesn't go away by itself. This goal means we plan to put ourselves out of business – once we have completed this project, our work is done.

Cleaning
the ocean

The Ocean Cleanup is developing cleanup systems that can clean up the floating plastics caught swirling in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. System 002, our latest system iteration, reached proof of technology on October 20^th, 2021, meaning we can now start the cleanup.

Learn more
Intercepting
in rivers

The Ocean Cleanup has developed the first scalable solution to efficiently intercept plastic in rivers before it reaches the oceans. By tackling 1000 rivers around the world, we aim to halt 80% of riverine plastic from entering the oceans in five years from rollout.

Learn more

Support our work

As a non-profit, donations and in-kind support enable us to work towards our goal of ridding the world's oceans of plastic.
Join the team

To complete one of the most ambitious engineering projects of this generation, we seek dedicated, focused and inventive minds to join our international team.
Spread our mission

The power of the crowd is what lead to the start of The Ocean Cleanup back in 2013. Follow us on social media to be part of the movement.

"The Ocean Cleanup is a bold idea to confront the significant challenge of restoring our ocean ecosystem. This is a unique opportunity to profoundly impact our environment, pursuing an ambitious solution to remove plastic waste from our oceans with significant benefits for wildlife, the food chain and community health. "

"The first real plan to try to clean things up."

"I believe [The Ocean Cleanup] will find a way. "

"With Boyan's innovative leadership, I believe The Ocean Cleanup will have an incredibly positive impact on the future of our oceans. I hope other leaders will join us in supporting these efforts."

"[The Ocean Cleanup's] success could significantly reduce marine animals fatalities and enable numerous marine species [...] to survive"

"A symbol of not only preaching, but also acting."

"In order to keep 7.5 billion of us alive and prosperous and healthy, it takes work and it takes initiative. [...] That's what The Ocean Cleanup is all about and we absolutely need their work."

"What is interesting to see [...] is that you are using nature to solve the mess we are doing on this planet."

"[...] there is no doubt that your efforts will truly have lasting, positive impact on our local and international communities."

"Boyan Slat is inspiring people, organizations and governments to find solutions to the escalating threat of plastic debris in our oceans, while also serving as a reminder to us all that more work needs to be done [...]"

Partners

Thanks to our partners we can clean the oceans.