The core purpose of The Ocean Cleanup is to rid the oceans of plastic.
Core Purpose
According to the organization itself, The Ocean Cleanup is a non-profit organization with a specific mission. Their ultimate goal is to rid the oceans of plastic. This objective drives the development and scaling of various technologies designed to tackle the massive issue of plastic pollution in our marine environments.
Achieving the Goal: The Dual Strategy
To effectively address ocean plastic pollution, The Ocean Cleanup employs a strategic approach. They utilize a dual strategy that targets plastic at different stages of its journey. This strategy acknowledges that solving the problem requires both preventing new plastic from entering the ocean and removing what is already there.
Key Components of the Strategy
The two main pillars of their strategy are:
- Intercepting plastic in rivers to cut the inflow of pollution: This involves deploying systems in rivers, which are a major source of ocean plastic. By stopping plastic here, they prevent it from ever reaching the open ocean.
- Cleaning up what has already accumulated in the ocean and won't go away by itself: This component focuses on the vast amounts of plastic that have already gathered in offshore accumulation zones, such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Special systems are designed to collect this plastic directly from the ocean.
This dual approach is considered essential because addressing only one part of the problem would not be sufficient to achieve their stated purpose of ridding the oceans of plastic.
Strategy Summary
| Strategy Component | Focus | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| River Systems | Preventing inflow from rivers | Stop plastic before it reaches the ocean |
| Ocean Systems | Removing accumulated offshore plastic | Clean up existing ocean pollution |
By combining efforts to stop the flow of plastic from rivers and cleaning up what is already polluting the open seas, The Ocean Cleanup works towards its mission to rid the oceans of plastic.
