More than five trillion pieces of plastic are currently polluting the ocean. Left to accumulate in five ocean garbage patches, this plastic poses a major threat to our ecosystem.

Aiming to provide a solution to this issue is the Ocean Cleanup Project, which has just launched its first cleanup system. Founded in 2013 by then-eighteen-year-old Boyan Slat, the initiative intends to both clean up the existing waste and prevent new plastic from entering the ocean in the first place.

The project uses a unique system that harnesses the natural force of the ocean’s current to catch and concentrate plastic. A special floater that sits above the ocean surface and is powered by wind and waves is able to capture the plastic moving with the current beneath it, without the need for external energy sources. Project managers are able to monitor the performance and trajectory of the system through real-time telemetry.

The system launched from San Francisco on 8 September will be trialled before being towed out to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – the biggest of all five patches. If successful, a full fleet of 60 systems will be employed around the world by 2020.

A full-scale deployment of these systems is estimated to reduce the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by 50% in 5 years. By combining the use of these systems with source reduction on land, the project is set to transform the state of our seas – and puts the globe on track to achieve a plastic-free ocean by 2050.

Visit www.theoceancleanup.com to learn more about this revolutionary project.