How Technology is Being Used to Solve The Ocean Waste Problem

The Ocean Cleanup uses technology to reduce plastic waste in the oceans using barriers, AI-powered cameras, and Interceptor solutions that collect trash before it enters the ocean.

FREMONT, CA: The non-profit environmental group The Ocean Cleanup has spent nearly a decade developing solutions to remove plastic waste from the Pacific Ocean. The problem of plastic pollution in the oceans is complex, with approximately 1,000 rivers and five ocean garbage patches to address. Therefore, the initial years of efforts were focused on comprehending the issue.

The North Pacific Ocean is home to the world's largest concentration of ocean plastic waste, commonly known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It has been one of The Ocean Cleanup team's primary targets due to a massive buildup of plastic debris ranging from large fishing nets to flake-sized microplastics.

Casting the Net

To address plastic pollution in the oceans, The Ocean Cleanup employs a U-shaped barrier, akin to a net, that is drawn through areas of debris by boats, taking care to move at a slow pace to minimise the harmful effects to marine life. The team utilises cameras powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to scan the ocean's surface consistently for plastic waste and fine-tune their computer models, enabling them to identify which sections of the Pacific to concentrate on.

Certain sections of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch have a notably high concentration of plastic, whereas other areas are relatively empty. Specific regions of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch have a significantly higher concentration of plastic waste compared to other sections, which are relatively less polluted.

The Ocean Cleanup's 800-metre-long (2,600-foot) system, which is the second of its kind, collects plastic waste that is then periodically transported to land and recycled. The system has removed around 200,000 kilograms (440,000 pounds) of plastic waste from the ocean.

It represents just 0.2 per cent of the 100 million kilograms of plastic in the largest collection of plastic waste in the world, it is still worthwhile: Anything big starts with a humble beginning. The Ocean Cleanup team is optimistic that their current system will have removed one per cent of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by the end of this year. However, they are scaling up their operations to speed up the cleanup process. They are developing System 3, a massive 2.4km (1.49 miles) long barrier, which they plan to use in the summer. The Ocean Cleanup is planning to deploy 10 larger systems in the near future in the hopes of cleaning up 80 per cent of the North Pacific's plastic debris by the end of the decade.

Stemming the Flow

The Ocean Cleanup conducted research in 2021 that revealed around 1,000 rivers worldwide are responsible for 80 per cent of the plastic waste that ends up in the oceans. The critical role of rivers is carrying plastic debris from land to sea. The plastic waste flows from streets into creeks, then into rivers, and ultimately ends up in the ocean during rainfall. The swift currents in rivers can make it even more challenging to prevent plastic waste from reaching the oceans. In rivers, plastic waste flows through only once, and if not intercepted, it is guaranteed to enter the ocean. Therefore, the task of catching plastic waste in rivers is more challenging as there is only one chance to prevent it from polluting the oceans.

To capture plastic waste in rivers before it reaches the ocean, The Ocean Cleanup deploys its Interceptor solutions. This technology is used to intercept and collect plastic waste from rivers and transport it to land-based facilities for recycling. It employs a range of technologies adapted to the specific characteristics of each river, such as width, depth, flow speed, and the type of debris. The system uses AI-powered cameras to analyse and optimise its operations. Most of the Interceptor systems deploy conveyor belts to extract the garbage from the river.  Intercepting plastic in 11 rivers around the world, but ultimately aim to scale this to all 1,000 heaviest polluting rivers in the world.

Ocean Cleanup is employing advanced technology to address the increasingly alarming issue of plastic pollution in the oceans globally. The organisation is creating and implementing incentive measures, such as extended U-shaped barriers that are towed by boats through stretches of idle water, and cameras equipped with artificial intelligence that scan the surface of the ocean to detect plastic debris. The organisation is also using Interceptor to catch debris in rivers before it reaches the sea. While the current efforts have only removed a small portion of the plastic waste, The Ocean Cleanup aims to scale up its operations and deploy larger systems to clean up more debris, potentially removing up to 80 per cent of the North Pacific's plastic debris by the end of the decade.