Boyan Slat: The Ocean Cleanup
The Ocean Cleanup — passive floating barriers and river Interceptors.
Diving in Greece at sixteen, Slat saw more plastic than fish and asked why nobody cleaned it up. His reframing was the invention: instead of chasing plastic with ships, put a long floating barrier in the current and let the ocean bring the plastic to you. He presented the concept at TEDxDelft at 18 and founded The Ocean Cleanup as a non-profit in 2013.
The first full system broke in 2018 and failed to hold plastic. Redesigned systems worked. The organisation reported over 45 million kilograms removed cumulatively by the end of 2025, and its river "Interceptor" barges now operate in Indonesia, Malaysia, Jamaica, Guatemala, Vietnam and elsewhere. Marine scientists still debate cost-effectiveness against stopping plastic at source; the organisation publishes its own multi-billion-dollar estimate for cleaning the whole Pacific patch.
IP note
Patents held by The Ocean Cleanup Tech B.V., e.g. NL2018882B1 (granted 2018, lapsed); family WO2018208159A1.
Recognition
UNEP Champion of the Earth 2014; 45m+ kg removed by end-2025.
What this means for a student inventor in India
[Editor: 120–200 words connecting this story to the Indian route — Section 6 (any true inventor may apply), provisional vs complete specification, disclosure at fairs (Section 31), renewals, and who owns what when a school is involved. Link to the relevant MYCrave guide.]
Related young innovators
- Gitanjali Rao — Tethys
- Deepika Kurup — Solar photocatalytic water purifier
- Param Jaggi — Algae Mobile
Sources
[Editor: list the 2–4 primary sources from the research notes for this entry, with the date checked.]
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