The Ocean Cleanup Project

Plastic is harmful to our environment, period. We have known this to be true for years.  So why do we continue to produce and use the stuff? Well for starters it’s cheap and makes for easy cleanups. Although these reasons sound good to us, it is the most concerning of all debris and waste that finds its way into our oceans. It is not a material that can be easily broken down and as a result it continues to accumulate. An estimated 5 trillion pieces are floating in our waters today. 

But one 20 year old, Boyan Slat, the founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, believes he has a solution. Slat made his announcement in South-Korea, at Asia’s largest technology conference, Seoul Digital Forum that the world’s first ocean cleaning system will be deployed in 2016. This debris trapping system will float and spans over 2000 meters, leaving it to be the largest floating structure in the ocean and it will be in operation for two years. 

"Taking care of the world's ocean garbage problem is one of the largest environmental challenges mankind faces today. Not only will this first cleanup array contribute to cleaner waters and coasts but it simultaneously is an essential step towards our goal of cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” said Slat. “This deployment will enable us to study the system's efficiency and durability over time."

Simon Lunt