The Ocean Cleanup is designing and developing the first feasible method to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. Every year, millions of tons of plastic enter the ocean. A significant percentage of this plastic drifts into large systems of circulating ocean currents, also known as gyres. Once trapped in a gyre, the plastic will break down into microplastics and become increasingly easier to mistake for food by sea life.
Going after it with vessels and nets would be costly, time-consuming, labor-intensive and lead to vast amounts of carbon emission and by-catch.That is why The Ocean Cleanup is developing a passive system, moving with the currents – just like the plastic – to catch it. The floater provides buoyancy to the entire system, while the skirt prevents debris from escaping underneath and leads it into the retention system (“cod end”). A cork line above the skirt prevents overtopping and keeps the skirt afloat. As the system moves through the water, slower than the plastic, the plastic collects within the boundaries of the U-shaped system.
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