We have completed our initial tests with System 001/B

A consistent speed through the plastic has been achieved using the parachute anchor configuration, therefore, solving our main technical challenge with Wilson

However, the technology is not proven yet, as overtopping needs to be addressed before the plastic is effectively retained in the system

The Ocean Cleanup’s mission is to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. Our starting point for this is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch; the largest accumulation zone of plastic in the world. Doing so is tricky because 1) even though the patch contains north of 80 million kg of plastic, it is spread out over a massive area, three times the size of France or twice the size of Texas, and 2) the patch is remote (the center is five times further away from land than the altitude of the International Space Station), making vessels extremely expensive to run.

The solution, therefore, requires us to 1) concentrate the plastic before harvesting, and 2) limit vessel use by designing the cleanup systems to operate autonomously for long stretches of time. Compare the function of the cleanup system to a rake in a large lawn full of leaves. To clear the lawn, one could pick up the leaves one by one, which would take forever, or one could use a rake to concentrate the leaves into one big pile, to then pick up the pile in one go. This is the main principle behind our cleanup concept; yet, our “rakes” need to be able to survive for years in one of the harshest environment on this planet, while being able to hold on to the concentrated plastic without human aid.

THE IMPORTANCE OF TESTING

The journey to clean oceans can be roughly divided into three big steps:

Prove the concept: by means of testing and iterating until we reach a design that can effectively collect and retain plastic for an extended duration Make the technology scalable: once the first system works, we optimize the design for cost and scalability Commence scale-up: Build up to a fleet of systems in the patch capable of cleaning at a rate of at least 50% of the patch every five years

As the problem is getting worse by the day, and as the plastic in the patch continues to fragment into toxic microplastics, it is therefore key that we reach proven technology status as soon as possible.

Our first attempt at doing so was deployed last year: System 001, also known as Wilson. After months of testing, we took Wilson back to port in the first days of this year after it suffered a fatigue fracture. This was not ideal, but both the diagnosis and solution came quite easily. The more complicated challenge was the system’s inability to retain plastic; instead of consistently going faster than the plastic, it alternated between going faster and going slower than the plastic. This meant plastic would float into the system, as planned, but then float out again.

As there wasn’t a single obvious fix to this, we decided to set up the upgraded design, System 001/B, in a more modular fashion. This allowed us to trial configurations that both sped up the system and slowed it down, in an attempt to find one that would result in a consistent speed difference between the system and the plastic. We launched System 001/B in late June, which was followed by a six-week testing campaign to test slowing down the system using a parachute anchor and test speeding up the system using large inflatable buoys.