The Ocean Cleanup calls for partners

The Ocean Cleanup Founder and CEO Boyan Slat has called for research and manufacturing partners to help in his mission to rid the world’s rivers and oceans of plastic pollution.

Speaking to Stephen Beacham at CNET, Slat said: “We are a relatively small organisation and we of course can’t do this by ourselves. There are a thousand rivers that we need to tackle to stop 80 per cent of plastic going into the ocean – that’s a lot of rivers and we want to do that in the shortest time possible, so we’re looking for partners to help. We need help when it comes to the manufacturing of the Interceptors, the servicing, and the installing of them into the rivers.”

Finland-based crane manufacturer Konecranes has been an installation partner of The Ocean Cleanup since 2019, and Netherlands-based masterbatch and additive specialist Holland Colours provided the colorants for the unique sunglasses manufactured from the collected and recycled plastic waste caught by Slat’s technology in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, to name just two current partners.

EPPM Magazine editor Rob Coker is a proud owner of a pair of these sunglasses.

During March of this year, The Ocean Cleanup reached the halfway point of its target to clean 500,000 football pitches’ worth of plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. With plans to return to the Pacific during the summer, only this time with a next-generation Ocean Cleanup System, Slat is anticipating the acceleration of this goal.

“The previous systems were really small-scale prototypes,” he continued. “There could be millions, maybe even billions, of football pitches worth of plastic to collect in years to come if of course this campaign in the summer is successful.”