Ocean Cleanup Technology.

An estimated 80% of river-borne ocean plastic enters via roughly 1,000 rivers worldwide.

The Ocean Cleanup's System 03 uses an 800-meter-long floating barrier towed slowly between two ships to concentrate plastic.

Solar-powered Interceptor catamarans can extract up to 50,000 kg of plastic per day from heavily polluted rivers.

Over 90% of ocean plastic eventually sinks to the sea floor, making surface interception time-critical.

Plastic in seawater breaks down into microplastics under UV light and wave action rather than biodegrading.

Satellite synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) is now used to detect large floating plastic windrows from orbit.

Autonomous surface vessels equipped with conveyor belts and AI cameras can sort collected debris in real time.

Ghost fishing nets make up roughly 46% of the mass of floating macro-plastics in the Pacific garbage patch.

Recycled ocean plastic is now being turned into sunglasses, phone cases, footwear and building materials.

Bubble curtains pumped from submerged pipes create acoustic and physical barriers that steer plastic toward collection points.

River barriers stop trash before it breaks into microplastics that are virtually impossible to remove from open water.

Community shoreline cleanups remain vital because they remove waste before tides and storms move it farther out to sea.

The best ocean cleanup tools are judged not only by how much they collect but also by how safely they operate around marine life.