“Boyan Slat claims that his non-profit The Ocean Cleanup removed over 27,000 tons of plastic from the world’s waterways in 2025, which he estimates is 2 to 5 percent of annual plastic pollution. If the operation can maintain its current rate of growth, it could meet its goal ‘to clean up 90% of floating ocean plastic pollution by 2040,’” reports The Doomslayer.
The Ocean Cleanup says, “Our cleaning technologies are deployed around the world as we conduct the largest cleanup in history. For over ten years, The Ocean Cleanup has been researching, extracting, and monitoring plastic pollution in oceans and rivers globally – with tens of millions of kilograms removed to date.”
Others are having success in cutting plastic pollution, too.
Plastic-choked rivers are being cleared using conveyor belts in nations like Ecuador:
Plastic pollution in the open sea is a growing concern…Research shows that up to 80% of this plastic is carried out to sea via rivers, mainly due to the mismanagement of waste on land. But a growing number of innovators, like Grønneberg, are trying to stop this flow.
The Azure system is a boom device that stretches across the river to stop objects floating on the surface. It extends down 60cm (2ft) into the water, allowing fish and other organisms to move freely below, and is placed at an angle allowing the natural water flow to direct all debris into one corner of the riverbank. A manual operator in the water then guides the debris onto a mobile conveyor belt that dumps the plastic into a large container on shore, where it is sorted for recycling and trash destined for landfill.
Plastic-eating fungi could help clean up oceans.
Scientists have engineered an enzyme that can break down hard-to-recycle plastics.
