Not long ago, The Ocean Cleanup gave us an answer. The Ocean Cleanup, founded in 2013, is a nonprofit organization from the Netherlands working to rid the oceans of plastic. This is done through both cleaning what has already accumulated and intercepting plastics in rivers before they can reach the ocean. The founder, Boyan Slat, was only sixteen when he began working on this project, studying the ocean currents. Knowing that ocean plastic is concentrated in five ocean garbage patches, the largest being the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (1.6 million square meters, or about twice the size of Texas, with over 200 million pounds of plastic), he figured out a system to collect plastic based on the naturally shifting plastic concentrations, creating artificial coastlines that resemble a very long U-shaped barrier, and the retrieved plastic is then recycled to make new, sustainable products. As for the river interceptors, we can actually see one for ourselves in Los Angeles, on Ballona Creek.
Photo of The Ocean Cleanup System 002, taken by The Ocean Cleanup, from Vancouver Island Free Daily
The Ballona Creek Trash Interceptor 007 in January 2023, from the Los Angeles Times
Recently, Boyan Slat offered concrete facts surrounding the issue. Considering the Ocean Cleanup’s current level of performance, cleaning the Great Pacific Garbage Patch responsibly in the span of 10 years would cost $7.5 billion.
By responsibly, he means by not harming the environment. In effect, the Ocean Cleanup’s system was designed to be safe for marine life, as this was a key concern. It therefore has acoustic deterrents, lights, provides escape routes, and a way of closing the system in case something accidentally enters, and it also works at a slow speed, allowing sufficient time for marine life to move away. This has proven to be successful as plastic is 99.3% of what is caught, and the other 0.7% are usually invasive species. Regarding energy, the system does emit CO2 into the atmosphere, hence, with this 10 year plan, it was calculated that the carbon footprint would amount to 90 kilotons of carbon per year. Yet, because the ocean is a carbon sink, it is able to take in carbon from the atmosphere, and because plastic interferes with the ocean’s ability to do so, the cleanup could actually be carbon positive in some ways. Furthermore, Slat stated that an annual 90 kilotons of carbon is equal to the carbon footprint of Wheatland, Wyoming (a town with a population of only 3,300).
At this point in time, money is the only barrier remaining. While before, the richest person, or richest country, may have not been able to clean the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, it is now no longer the case. Moreover, Slat has noted that the cleanup could potentially cost even less than $7.5 billion if the Ocean Cleanup finds a way to more effectively locate plastic concentrations, or what they call hotspots. Success in this would split the time in half, and thus, they calculated that in 5 years, this would cost approximately $4 billion dollars. What is $4 billion dollars? Slat, to put it in perspective, presents it as:
The same amount humans spend on pet gourmet food annually
Less than half of what America spends on Halloween decorations annually
Less than a quarter of a percent of the net worth of the ten richest people on Earth
Less than 1% of the profits of the world’s plastic producers over the course of the cleanup
So, I think it’s safe to say that we can afford it. Cleaning the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, thanks to the Ocean Cleanup, is possible.
Sources:
“The Ocean Cleanup.” The Ocean Cleanup, https://theoceancleanup.com/
“System 03: A Beginner’s Guide.” The Ocean Cleanup, 31 August 2023, https://theoceancleanup.com/updates/system-03-a-beginners-guide/
“The Great Pacific Garbage Patch can be cleaned for $7.5 billion.” The Ocean Cleanup, 6 September 2024, https://theoceancleanup.com/press/press-releases/the-great-pacific-garbage-patch-can-be-cleaned-for-7-5-billion/
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