Ocean Cleanup: Can Technology Solve the Plastic Crisis?

Ambitious projects deploy floating barriers, autonomous vessels, and filtering systems to remove plastic from the ocean. Blue Ocean News evaluates whether these high-tech solutions can make a meaningful impact.

Critics argue that cleanup technologies address symptoms, not causes, while consuming resources that might better fund prevention. Supporters point to the urgent need to remove existing plastic before it breaks down into microplastics.

This investigation follows cleanup operations in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and smaller initiatives closer to shore. The real solution may lie in stopping plastic at its source, but cleanup buys time while that transition happens.