The Dutch-led effort to clean the Great Pacific Garbage Patch has moved far beyond its experimental beginnings. Early 600-meter systems proved that large-scale plastic capture was possible. Today, the operation is defined by System 03, a platform designed to work at an industrial scale that would have seemed unrealistic only a few years ago. Developed by The Ocean Cleanup, System 03 is a 2,200-meter U-shaped floating barrier. By the mid-2020s, the project reached a critical proof-of-scale phase,

Fresh from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch! This concludes the last short duration test. Now it’s time for the real test: completely filling up the cleanup system. Stay tuned! | The Ocean Cleanup

Footage of Yesterday’s extraction in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Another good catch in the bank for System 002. On to the next one. | The Ocean Cleanup

According to our projections, we expect to be able to clean the entire Great Pacific Garbage Patch (containing 100,000,000kg of plastic) using ten systems based on System 03. This animated video shows our vision of this future: | The Ocean Cleanup