Skip to content

O-01

Clean up all ocean pollution

Oceans free of plastic, sewage and chemical pollution, with no new waste flowing in.

23 organizations tracked  ·  1 vetted

The goal in brief

GoalOceans free of plastic, sewage and chemical pollution, with no new waste flowing in.

plastic pieces afloat in the ocean (2019)3
171 trillion
of plastic into rivers, lakes and seas, 20161
19–23 million t
plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch4
79,000 t
lbs of coastal plastic our members have removed
61,400Live

Why it matters

In 2016 alone, an estimated 19 to 23 million tonnes of plastic waste flowed into the world’s rivers, lakes and seas.1 In the ocean it breaks into ever-smaller pieces that harm sea life and are nearly impossible to retrieve, so the job is to stop the flow and collect waste along coasts before it breaks apart.

How we’ll know it’s done

Finish line
Zero new plastic reaching the sea, the G20’s vision for 2050,2 with sewage and chemical runoff cut to safe levels and old debris cleared from coasts.
What counts
Waste taken out of the sea or off the coast for good and recycled or safely handled, not moved somewhere else.
How it’s checked
UN tracking of coastal nutrient pollution and plastic density, plus beach litter surveys and ocean sampling.
Our part
Our campaign reports the pounds of coastal plastic it removes each month.

What follows

  • Fish and other sea life no longer swallowing or tangled in plastic.O-03Replenish depleted fish populations
  • Reefs, seagrass and kelp freed from smothering debris and runoff.O-06Protect and regenerate key ocean ecosystems
  • Relief for endangered turtles, seabirds and marine mammals.W-01Protect endangered and critical species
  • A push toward systems that keep plastic in use and out of nature.E-04Establish global zero waste through circular economies

Fund it today Vetted campaigns on this goal, taking gifts now.

How it can be solved

The approaches to this goal, and how many of the organizations taking each one we’ve vetted.

  • Plastic collection

    Paying people to collect plastic from coasts and communities before it washes out to sea.

    4 organizations · 1 vetted

  • Ocean cleanup

    Removing plastic and lost fishing gear already in the ocean.

    2 organizations · 2 no longer operating

  • Harbor and port cleanup

    Bins, drones and collectors that catch floating litter in harbors, marinas and drains.

    8 organizations · 1 no longer operating

  • Oil spill response

    Equipment that contains and recovers oil and other spills.

    1 organization · 1 no longer operating

  • Microfiber filters

    Laundry filters and devices that stop plastic fibers from clothes reaching the sea.

    4 organizations

  • Upcycling ocean plastic

    Turning recovered marine plastic into yarn, fabric and products.

    2 organizations

  • Litter data

    Counting and mapping litter so cleanups and policy target the worst places.

    2 organizations · 1 no longer operating

Who’s working on it

We only call a solution proven, measurable and scalable once our vetting team has vetted it. Everything else here, the team is tracking.

Vetted1 organizationReviewed by our vetting team, and passed all three tests.

  • Proven

    It has worked, with results to show.

  • Measurable

    Its impact can be counted.

  • Scalable

    It can grow toward the size of the goal.

Not vetted22 organizationsTracked by our vetting team. Not vetted yet, so we make no claims about them.

No longer operational Kept here so the record is complete. 5

  • O-01-S16

    Bluebird Marine Systems No longer operational

    Developed SeaVax, a robotic vessel designed to vacuum plastic from the sea.

    Ocean cleanup

  • O-01-S22

    BLUENET No longer operational

    EU-funded project that recovered and recycled lost fishing gear in the Bay of Biscay.

    Ocean cleanup

  • O-01-S06

    Clean Sea Solutions No longer operational

    Made drones and dock-mounted collectors that removed floating waste from harbors.

    Harbor and port cleanup

  • O-01-S14

    Orca Clean No longer operational

    Sold a vortex suction machine for recovering oil spills and floating debris.

    Oil spill response

  • O-01-S12

    Scoutbots No longer operational

    Developed open-source sailing robots and sensors for ocean monitoring and cleanup.

    Litter data

Listing an organization isn’t an endorsement. Not vetted means just that: our vetting team is tracking it, and we make no claims about it yet. Last reviewed October 2026.

Know a solution we’re missing?

Submit a solution that tackles a goal on Humanity’s Checklist.

  1. Tell us about it in a short form.
  2. Our Solutionary Team reviews every submission.
  3. If it looks like a fit, we’ll start vetting the project.
Submit a project (opens in a new tab)

Sources

  1. 1. Borrelle et al., “Predicted growth in plastic waste exceeds efforts to mitigate plastic pollution,” Science (2020) (opens in a new tab)
  2. 2. G20 Implementation Framework for Actions on Marine Plastic Litter, “Osaka Blue Ocean Vision,” G20 Osaka Summit (2019) (opens in a new tab)
  3. 3. Eriksen et al., “A growing plastic smog, now estimated to be over 170 trillion plastic particles afloat in the world’s oceans,” PLOS ONE (2023) (opens in a new tab)
  4. 4. Lebreton et al., “Evidence that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is rapidly accumulating plastic,” Scientific Reports (2018) (opens in a new tab)