Patricia Sánchez Villena

Here’s what happened at The Ocean Cleanup in November: 💠 This year, we’ve been collecting an average of 53 kilos of trash every minute. 💠 We just finished recycling our last plastic batch from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Now, we have over 118,000 kg of plastic granulate ready for new products. 💠 We introduced our new 4-quadrant strategy: cleaning up the garbage patches, stopping plastic in rivers, conducting coastal sweeps, and tackling lost fishing gear at sea. 💠 After Hurricane Melissa, all nine Interceptors made it through — with only a few needing repairs. 💠 Our team published new research on the role of Citizen Scientists in gathering data on plastic pollution in remote oceanic regions. 💠 With partners in Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, and Panama, we continue to engage local communities in coastal sweeps of beaches and mangroves. 💠 We have completed the analysis of 55,000 kg of ocean plastic. Each item was inspected for clues about its origin, age, and evidence of bite marks; the research will be published next year.