The Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit environmental organization, has announced a bold plan to eliminate the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by 2034. This ambitious goal, however, hinges on securing significant funding.
The organization estimates that cleaning up the patch entirely will cost a staggering $7.5 billion. This is the first time a specific cost and timeline have been set for this environmental challenge.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a name given to an estimated 79,000 metric tons of plastic waste floating in the ocean in an area roughly twice the size of Texas. The Ocean Cleanup has made it its mission to fish it out of the water piece by piece.
Unfortunately, the patch is growing rapidly, making it an increasingly difficult problem to address. To tackle this challenge, the Ocean Cleanup has been developing innovative technologies.
One of their latest creations is System 03, a floating barrier. This system has already removed over a million pounds of trash from the patch, although this is only a small fraction of the total.
The organization aims to significantly increase its operations over the next decade to achieve its ambitious goal. Next year, they will focus on identifying areas in the ocean with the highest concentration of plastic waste.
While $7.5 billion may seem like a substantial sum for cleaning garbage, it pales in comparison to the profits of major corporations. For instance, it is less than one month’s worth of Apple’s profits or a fraction of the bonus awarded to Tesla’s CEO.
The Ocean Cleanup also highlights that the annual spending on Halloween decorations in the United States alone exceeds $10 billion.
Even a small portion of the annual net profits of the world’s plastic producers could fund this garbage cleanup effort. Moreover, the organization suggests that with further technological advancements, they could potentially clear the patch in just five years at a reduced cost of $4 billion.
Reference- The Guardian, Futurism, BBC, National Geographic, Ocean Cleanup Newsroom & PR