The world's first Ocean Cleanup System was launched from San Francisco. "The Ocean Cleanup" uses the natural ocean currents and do not require an external source of energy to trap and concentrate the plastic. The entire electronics used such as lighting and AIS is powered by solar energy (solar modules from SunWare).

"The Ocean Cleanup" - how it works
The system consists of a 600-meter floating body sitting on the water surface and an underlying conical 3 meter deep rock. The float provides buoyancy on the system and prevents plastic from flowing over it while the skirt prevents dirt from escaping underneath.
Both the plastic and the system are carried by the flow. Wind and waves only drive the system because the floater sits just above the water surface, while the plastic lies primarily underneath. The system is moving thus faster than the plastic, so that the plastic can be detected.
The floating system is designed to take plastics from small pieces (just millimeters in size) all the way up to large rubble, including massive fishing nets (ghost nets) that can be ten feet wide.

"The Ocean Cleanup" - Scalability
Models show that a large-scale roll-out system (a fleet of about 60 systems) accounts for 50% of the total in just five years Could Clean Great Pacific Garbage Patch. After deploying fleets of systems in each ocean gyro in conjunction with source reduction, Ocean Cleanup projects are expected to be able to remove 90% of the oceanic plastic by 2040.

www.theoceancleanup.com

Source text & photos: The Ocean Cleanup