The Ocean Cleanup has successfully tested its waste collection system, Jenny, in the Pacific Ocean. Over a 12-week cleanup period, 30 tons of garbage were collected. The initiative aims to remove 90% of ocean waste by 2040. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, located between Hawaii and California, covers an area of 1.6 million square kilometers and is visible from space. The floating landfill was created by a rotating current that concentrates illegally dumped waste into a solid mass. The Ocean Cleanup was founded in 2013 with the goal of eliminating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by developing a system to filter waste from the water. However, previous models failed to collect enough garbage.
The initiative has now achieved success with a new U-shaped net system called Jenny, which was pulled by two ships during a 12-week cleanup phase. The funnel-shaped net collected 9,000 kilograms of garbage over a distance of approximately 800 meters during the last tour alone. In total, nearly 30,000 kilograms of waste were removed from the ocean. The collected garbage is now being shipped to British Columbia, Canada. The Ocean Cleanup aims to remove 90% of plastic waste from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by 2040. A larger cleaning system will be tested in the summer of 2022, followed by a fleet that will remove up to 20,000 tons of plastic waste from the oceans.
The Ocean Cleanup’s success with the Jenny system is a significant step towards achieving their goal of cleaning up the world’s oceans. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is just one of many areas in need of attention, and the initiative’s efforts are crucial in reducing the impact of human waste on marine life. The development of new technologies and systems to collect and recycle waste is essential in creating a sustainable future for our planet. The Ocean Cleanup’s work serves as a reminder of the importance of taking action to protect our oceans and the life they support.
