The Largest Cleanup in History. Follow the latest updates on our mission to rid the world's oceans of plastic.
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Joined December 2012
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Did you know that for just 10$ a month, you can remove 2300 plastic bottles from rivers worldwide?
Choose your impact: theoceancleanup.com/donate/
Watch our research and testing journey in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch unfold in our latest YouTube video: youtu.be/-eK7kXX3_qM
We’re coming to Cartagena 🇨🇴
We signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Cartagena Mayor’s Office to tackle plastic pollution in Cartagena’s waterways and prevent waste from reaching the Caribbean Sea.
Cartagena marks another step in our efforts across Colombia, where we’re working with local partners to stop plastic pollution at its source.
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¡Llegamos a Cartagena! 🇨🇴
Firmamos un Memorando de Entendimiento con la Alcaldía de Cartagena para combatir la contaminación por plásticos en las vías fluviales de la ciudad y evitar que los residuos lleguen al Mar Caribe.
Cartagena marca un nuevo avance en nuestros esfuerzos en Colombia, donde trabajamos con socios locales para frenar la contaminación por plásticos desde su origen.
Curious about our work in the Philippines? Check out our latest YouTube video: youtu.be/JN3mnvsDC-Y
News from the Philippines 🇵🇭
Interceptor 028 is operational and will help us tackle the estimated 370 to 540 tonnes of plastic that travels through the Meycauayan River system and enters Manila Bay every year.
We are now working together with the City of Meycauayan and the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) to monitor and optimize performance.
Interceptor 028 is the first of several deployments planned for the Manila Bay region as part of our 30 Cities Program, which aims to cut up to 1/3 of plastic flowing from some of the world's most polluting waterways into the ocean.
The Ocean Cleanup retweeted
Pretty wild times at our Guatemala projects.
In just two weeks, we extracted 593 (!) truckloads of trash that would otherwise have flowed into the Caribbean.
Here's what happened at The Ocean Cleanup in September:
💠 Interceptor 006 prevented over 210,000 kilograms of trash from reaching the Gulf of Honduras in a single catch.
💠 After announcing our project in Santa Marta, we also signed an MoU with the City of Barranquilla to deploy Interceptor solutions in the Magdalena River and the Caribbean, as part of our 30 Cities Program.
💠 The Ocean Cleanup became a Nonprofit Impact Partner of 1% for the Planet, giving companies a new way to support our mission.
💠 Our Founder and CEO, Boyan Slat, was featured on The Independent’s Climate 100 list for 2026.
Earlier this month, we signed an MoU with the City of Santa Marta to deploy Interceptor solutions in the Río Manzanares and the Río Gaira!
El desastre inevitable despues de las lluvias. Hoy 4 pm. Rio Manzanares. @TheOceanCleanup we need your help.
Before... and after.
Interceptor 006 has been operational in the Rio Las Vacas, Guatemala, since June 2023. In this catch alone, over 210,000 kg of trash were stopped from reaching the Gulf of Honduras and the Caribbean Sea.
Update: we are coming to Baranquilla, Colombia! 🇨🇴
We just signed an MoU with @alcaldiabquilla to deploy Interceptor solutions in the Magdalena River and the Caribbean...
...to protect key ecosystems such as mangroves and beaches, and safeguard the livelihoods of fishing and tourism communities.
Baranquilla, and the recently announced project in Santa Marta, mark the start of our work in Colombia: the 13th country we'll be operating in.
Barranquilla is part of our 30 Cities Program to stop up to one-third of all global river plastic by 2030...
And we still have more news on Colombia and other projects coming soon - stay tuned!
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Buenas noticias: ¡estamos llegando a Barranquilla, Colombia! 🇨🇴
Acabamos de firmar un Memorando de Entendimiento con @alcaldiabquilla para desplegar nuestras soluciones Interceptor en la cuenca baja del río Magdalena y el mar Caribe, y así proteger ecosistemas clave como manglares y playas, cuidando también el sustento de las comunidades que viven de la pesca y del turismo.
Barranquilla, sumada al proyecto que anunciamos hace poco en Santa Marta, marca el inicio de nuestro viaje en Colombia: ¡el decimotercer país en integrarse a nuestra operación global!
Además, forma parte de nuestro ‘30 Cities Program’ con el que buscamos frenar hasta un tercio del plástico que llega a los océanos desde los ríos para 2030.
Muy pronto tendremos más noticias sobre Colombia y otros proyectos. ¡Sigan atentos!
Learn more about our plans in Barranquilla: visit.theoceancleanup.com/3V…
The Ocean Cleanup retweeted
One of the most satisfying parts of the phase we’re now in at @TheOceanCleanup is that we’re actually starting to change the lives of the people who depend on the ocean being clean.
The Ocean Cleanup retweeted
We made this video a couple of years ago and I think it's still the best summary of how ocean plastic pollution works.
Key points:
- <0.1% of plastic waste actually makes it to the ocean. Ocean plastic pollution is a leakage problem.
- 1% of rivers contribute roughly 80% of plastic inflow.
- Most of these rivers are in coastal cities in middle-income countries, where people now have enough wealth but no adequate waste collection infrastructure.
- High-income countries barely contribute to the problem. OECD countries consume 1/3 of all plastic but are responsible for <0.5% of ocean inflow. If you live in a rich country and don’t litter, your contribution to the problem is basically 0.
- Nearshore and offshore plastic pollution are very different.
Nearshore plastic pollution mostly originates from rivers and is not very persistent; after leaving river mouths, plastic tends to drift around for weeks to months before washing up on a coastline.
Plastic in the offshore gyres mostly originates from the fishing industry and is very persistent; it is trapped indefinitely because there are hardly any coastlines in these currents to ‘catch’ this waste.
This is why our catch from our Interceptors and our ocean cleanup system looks totally different.
We'll be deploying Interceptors in Santa Marta, Colombia. 🇨🇴 Learn more: visit.theoceancleanup.com/4g…
Here's what happened at The Ocean Cleanup in August:
💠 We announced the expansion of our operations to our 13th country, Colombia. We signed an MoU with the City of Santa Marta to deploy Interceptors in the Río Manzanares and Río Gaira, to stop plastic before it reaches the Caribbean Sea. This is part of our 30 Cities Program, which aims to prevent up to one-third of all river plastic entering the ocean by 2030.
💠 In Panama City, heavy rains brought a huge amount of trash into the waterways. But Interceptors 024 and 025 were there to stop it from reaching Panama Bay.
💠 Similarly, in Jamaica, Interceptors 011, 013, and 015 prevented tons of waste from reaching the Caribbean Sea.
💠 In the Dominican Republic, an upgrade to Interceptor 004 is coming soon, with a new 400-meter barrier to capture more plastic and invasive water hyacinths.
💠 Our team just returned after 6 weeks in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, testing our Smart Steering Strategy. We’ll be sharing what we learned soon.
