Founded in 2013 by Dutch inventor Boyan Slat, The Ocean Cleanup is on a mission to remove 90% of floating ocean plastic by 2040. Their massive cleanup systems use ocean currents to collect waste far from shore, with one haul in 2021 pulling 9,000 kg (20,000 lbs) of trash in a single sweep. But they’re not stopping there. To “close the tap” on plastic pollution, they’ve built solar-powered Interceptors that target the 1,000 rivers responsible for 80% of ocean-bound waste. These devices are alread

At age 18 Boyan Slat left university to fight ocean plastic pollution by founding a nonprofit that has removed thousands of tons of debris. His journey began in 2011 during a scuba trip in Greece when he saw more plastic bags than fish. After presenting a passive cleanup concept at a tedx talk and launching a viral crowdfunded campaign that raised over 2 million from 38,000 donors in 160 countries, his team developed systems to capture plastic from oceans and rivers. By 2024 they removed over 19