Ocean Cleanup is an engineering-driven effort to remove plastic pollution from oceans and rivers using passive collection systems and data-informed deployment. At sea, their primary system consists of a long floating barrier with a submerged skirt. It does not chase plastic—instead, it leverages ocean dynamics. Wind, waves, and surface currents push buoyant plastic into the system, while the barrier—moving slightly faster than the surrounding debris due to its design—concentrates it for extraction. Periodically, support vessels remove the accumulated plastic for processing and recycling. Key technical features: • Passive drift design: Minimizes energy input by using natural ocean forces instead of active propulsion • Hydrodynamic modeling: System geometry is tuned using simulations and field data to optimize retention efficiency • Modular scalability: Systems can be deployed, upgraded, and repositioned based on real-time data from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch • Bycatch mitigat...