Catching Up with The Ocean Cleanup

This week the team will embark on the next mission into Great Pacific Garbage Patch with System 002. Its nickname is inspired by (another) character from a Tom Hanks movie and the design features several substantial updates. Prior to “lift off” we sat down with Head of Technology, Arjen Tjallema and Senior Project Engineer, Reijnder de Feijter to discuss the preparations behind this new system and our expectations for it as we return to this infamous gyre in the Pacific Ocean.

Founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, Boyan Slat, went with the project team to Guatemala to explore solutions for the pollution problem in one of the most polluting rivers in the world. He shares his first impressions of what he experienced during his time there and we talk about upcoming projects for The Ocean Cleanup, the recently announced partnership with The Coca Cola Company, and what’s important for future planning.

Ali and Lucy Tabrizi, Director and Assistant Director of the Netflix documentary Seaspiracy, sat down with our Lead Ocean Scientist, Matthias Egger, to talk about the importance of science, technology, and research in telling impactful stories using the latest technology. We also chat about the making of the film and discuss one of the statistics from The Ocean Cleanup's research on ghost nets in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Head of Environmental and Social Affairs, Michelle Tishler, and Business Development Manager in Latin America, Frank Behrens, discuss their thoughts on a specific pollution problem in Guatemala and how they are researching and preparing solutions that can help. We also talk about the environmental preparations for the forthcoming ocean System 002 launch and dive into the hobbies that inspire these two to help keep the oceans clean.

A small team from The Ocean Cleanup traveled to Jamaica to continue research and business development for the gully pollution problem in Kingston Harbour. In this special on-location episode, we sat with Renata Correia, Mathilde Wiedemann, Bastiaan Dubois, and Jasper van Eijk to discuss the research, engineering, and business plan to help this famous Caribbean country find the right solution for this immense problem.

Senior Project Engineer for the Ocean team, Manon Ait Amarouche, tells us how past experiences, hobbies, and even critics have helped inspire her journey at The Ocean Cleanup. She also hints at some updates coming later this year with the next ocean cleanup system.

Gently floating along the Rio Ozama - Dominican style - with Erik Holmbom, our project manager in the Dominican Republic. In this episode, we chatted about the effects of COVID-19 and the importance of the UNDP and the Dominican Armada for the future of the Interceptor program in Santo Domingo.

In the latest conversation, we caught up with Ellen, Legal Counsel, and Lourens, Head of Data & Monitoring at The Ocean Cleanup. They’ll share why we need lawyers and applied researchers at The Ocean Cleanup, and what the two have in common. Ellen also explains the new legal challenges of working with plastic pollution for something that has never been done before.

As we gear up to launch our first product made with plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, we caught up with Recycling and Material Development Manager, Eva Snijder, and Project Engineer, Chris Reichard, to talk about our Full Circle process of recycling the plastic catch and turning it into a (re)usable material. They also look back on when we said goodbye to a legendary pipe in The Ocean Cleanup’s history.

Director of our Ocean team, Henk van Dalen, and Interceptor Senior Engineer, Ian Smith, sit down together (socially distanced) at The Ocean Cleanup’s Rotterdam headquarters to reflect over the last few months and look ahead at what’s to come. The conversation delves into the topics of inspirational rap music and how past experiences are bringing them to “the verge of something big.”