Cleaning up the Pacific garbage patch
The Ocean Cleanup, an ecologically minded tech startup, plans to gather up and recycle millions of tonnes of plastic floating in the Pacific Ocean


HAWAII
San Francisco
U.S.

Great Pacific Garbage Patch: Largest of five gyres – rotating ocean currents – containing
1.8 trillion pieces of plastic


1 Natural forces move floater faster than plastic, allowing it to capture detritus

2 Garbage accumulates in U-shape

3 Support ships periodically remove plastic for recycling on mainland

Corralled plastic waste

System 001 prototype: Drifts unpowered on ocean currents (600m long)

Skirt


Solar powered pods
Sensors

GPS tracking
Floater
Lanterns: Avoid ship collisions



Cross-section
Skirt: 3m deep net
Plastic captured
Human to scale

Marine life can pass safely beneath skirt


Company operates from Alameda Island in San Francisco Bay
San Francisco
Alcatraz
Golden Gate Bridge
2km 1.2 miles


If successful, 60 systems will be deployed, removing 50% of plastic waste from Pacific
every five years



Sources: The Ocean Cleanup North Pacific Foundation, USA Today
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