The Ocean Cleanup: Insights from the “Catching Up” Podcast
If you are not familiar with The Ocean Cleanup, buckle up and read on, because this is an organization that is already making history.
Started in 2013 by entrepreneur and aerospace engineering student Boyan Slat, The Ocean Cleanup embarked on a big mission: to rid the world’s oceans of plastic.
Whether it’s my hobby of picking up litter, or interest in sailing, or both, I wanted to learn more about their work. So I binged on the first 33 episodes of the Catching Up podcast: hosted by the organization’s head of communications Dan van der Kooy. The show consists of conversations with various of their staff members over the 2020-2023 period.
“This is a problem created by many people and it will be solved my many people. Working together or individually.“
Key Facts
Initially an experimental and theoretical project, The Ocean Cleanup attracted significant attention and funding after Boyan’s inspirational TED talk in October 2012. He made the case for building and deploying a system that would harvest the plastic freely floating in world’s oceans, and truly recycling it by reintroducing it to the market.
The Ocean Cleanup grew steadily since then, launching and testing different prototypes and systems for harvesting floating plastic, both in the Pacific Ocean, as well as on several key world rivers. Based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, they have offices in multiple locations around the world, and now employ more than 130 people.
Through their research, they have helped establish that 1,000 rivers contribute approx. 80% of the world plastic found in oceans. Now The Ocean Cleanup deploys appropriately named “interceptors”, i.e. river systems to stop and catch plastic before it enters the ocean in highly polluted places like Jamaica, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Thailand, Los Angeles, and Vietnam.
While the plastic pollution problem is monumental, and in fact expected to get worse in the next few years, The Ocean Cleanup is making a dent, having already removed more than 100 tons of plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP). They are starting to turn that into marketable products, such as sunglasses (interestingly now “out of stock” as of June 2023, so they just have to go get more plastic!!).
The majority of their funding (60-70%) goes toward the Ocean & Rivers projects; about 10% toward “catch management”, i.e. plastic recycling/repurposing and research; and about 20% to typical support and enabling functions like IT, finance, HR and fundraising.
Further from the key facts, here are the main takeaways that suggest The Ocean Cleanup is truly on to something and may become one of the most important environmental organizations of the 21st century:
Technology and Innovation
Drones, cameras, world-class engineering, machine learning, Starlink satellite-streamed internet, cloud-based infrastructure, live video from the middle of the Pacific Ocean: these are all important elements that speak to why The Ocean Cleanup has been successful so far. Their approach is to constantly seek to deploy the latest available technology.
“Whose plastic is it? It’s everyone’s problem and it’s no one’s problem.”
An unspoken North star is present and palpable in everything The Ocean Cleanup does, since everyone is aware of the main, ultimate goal: scale. Given the amount of plastic in the ocean, their effort would otherwise simply be, in street-smart terms, at best cute.
Without scaling, and the help of technology, software, and the latest engineering, the passion of so many people who have contributed to the organization’s success so far would not be sufficient to accomplish the mission.
Furthermore, deploying advanced technology tools such as multiple cameras on slow-moving plastic harvester ships, enables The Ocean Cleanup to ensure it protects its ultimate clients: marine life. A key goal other than removing plastic is ensuring that no animals are being hurt or captured inadvertently in the plastic harvester mechanism.
Science and Research
From the very beginning, The Ocean Cleanup effort was rooted in scientific study and analysis, as their team of researchers started gathering data and investigating available information on the massive amount of plastic in world oceans and waterways.
As part of their work, they have been documenting, calculating, and extrapolating along the way key findings regarding the quantity, type, size, structure, and possible origin of the plastic found in the GPGP.
This is a key part of how they fulfill their mission, as it enables at least two virtuous cycles:
It enables the organization to track and target areas with the highest concentration of marine floating plastic, and thereby ensure efficiency of its harvesting efforts; it also allows modeling possible future missions and programs.
It informs policy and policy assistance that the organization can provide to governments and industry in the future. Having detailed quantitative data on legacy plastic can be helpful in designing solutions and gradual mitigation strategies to reduce and hopefully stop the amount of plastic being discharged in waterways.
Partnerships
Since The Ocean Cleanup operates in multiple countries, as well as in international waters, their efforts could hardly be possible without a rising number of partnerships and collaborating institutions.
Large companies like Coca-Cola and Kia support the effort and sometimes help open doors and make connections, given their large network and influence. Bands like Coldplay, and influencers like YouTube celebrity Mr. Beast help spread the word and secure funding.
Global organizations such as the UNDP help secure local support and smoothen the path for obtaining necessary approvals for river projects.
Shipping companies support trips to the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Each trip to the GPGP not only takes 6 days each way from the nearest large port on the US West Coast or Canada, but costs more than $2 million, without counting the in-kind support received from companies such as Maersk that is helping in the process.
“It is a monumental task, it is truly the greatest cleanup of the world.“
The list of partnerships continues to grow and a key factor in making that happen has been the organization’s ‘no finger pointing’ approach.
A solution-focused approach has enabled The Ocean Cleanup to stay clear of often hotly-debated political issues involving plastic waste. These tend to arise particularly in countries with inadequate waste management systems and infrastructure, where more often than not landfills are poorly built, managed, and are positioned right next to a river.
Since plastic in waterways very quickly becomes everyone’s problem, through the right, collaborative approach, The Ocean Cleanup is able to rally significant support for its cause.
Entrepreneurial Approach
While technically the organization consists of a Dutch foundation, and a US 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization, the approach is much more that of a lean startup.
For example, when deploying mechanical and engineering solutions, they experiment, take risks, fail fast, and constantly adapt, learn and improve. This iterative approach is key to their path toward scalability and building innovative systems for long-term success.
Worldwide Support: Surfing a Generational Wave
Attitudes toward plastic and waste are changing. The tide is turning, people pay attention much more to what they consume and how they dispose of stuff.
A global plastics treaty is being worked on by all member states of the United Nations, an ambitious plan to slowly begin to reverse the awful trend of the past few decades. On a fairly fast track by UN standards, the global deal to end plastic pollution is expected to be negotiated and adopted by member states by end end of 2024.
While one can argue that the work of The Ocean Cleanup may be too little too late, it is nonetheless extremely important and beneficial. Not so much because of the plastic removed itself, but because of the thousands of positive ripple effects it generates. The effort, often in large display, for many to see, encourages and inspires conservation and respect for our environment.
Ultimately the change will be on land, or “upstream”, when society as a whole changes the way we look at waste. There is no waste when it comes to plastic. Plastic must be finally viewed as a resource, and most certainly not as something that can be discarded irresponsibly, lest it ends up like a pink princess crown, thousands of miles from shore, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
