The Ocean Cleanup is a nonprofit environmental organization based in the Netherlands founded by Boyan Slat. They have set themselves the monumental task of developing technology to extract plastic pollution from the oceans and intercept it in rivers before it can reach the ocean. Then recycle the plastic to create a range of products to help fund the project.
The system Slat has designed passive floating structures that are set adrift in the ocean gyres, where marine debris tends to accumulate. These structures act as a containment boom. The boom drifts with the wind, waves and ocean currents to capture marine debris. A solid screen underneath the floating pipe catches subsurface debris. The system requires no external energy.