Every year, millions of tonnes of plastic waste enters the ocean. These plastics affect ecosystems, our health and economies all over the world.
The Ocean Cleanup hopes to help solve this problem.
The non-profit was formed in 2014, with a goal to clean up the ocean by creating and testing new ways of removing plastics from the ocean.
Although the organization’s home base is the Netherlands, two of their vessels are currently docked at Ogden Point in Victoria.
Ocean Cleanup is currently working on solutions to intercept plastics in rivers before it reaches the ocean. They are also developing cleaning systems to remove floating plastics caught swirling in the Great Pacific Garbage patch in the North Pacific Ocean.
For the past 6 weeks, crew aboard the vessels have been collecting debris from this patch, returning with 8 tonnes of garbage.
After 6 weeks offshore, the crew is back in port with the plastic catch from test trip 1. We are heading back to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch this week, where we expect to catch even more plastic. pic.twitter.com/cXxzEOI9CP
— The Ocean Cleanup (@TheOceanCleanup) September 8, 2021
The vessels pull a horseshoe shaped device pulled behind them on your journey, a contraption the team calls ‘Jenny’. As it is pulled behind the boat it collects ocean plastics and garbage.
The Ocean Cleanup’s crew will set sail again Saturday. The goal of this journey is to return with 30 to 40 tonnes of plastic debris by October 20th.
The organization has a goal of removing 90% of the world’s ocean plastics by 2040, the largest cleanup in history.
