Sustainable Biz #8 - Magazine - Page 26
The Ocean Cleanup launches
30 cities programme to cut
ocean plastic pollution from
rivers by one third by 2030
T
he Ocean Cleanup, the international
non-profit with the mission to rid
the world’s oceans of plastic, has
announced its plan to rapidly expand its
work to intercept and remove ocean-bound
plastic pollution.
The 30 Cities Program will scale the
organisation’s proven Interceptor™ solutions
across 30 key cities in Asia and the
Americas, aiming to eliminate up to one
third of all plastic flowing from the world’s
rivers into the ocean before the end of the
decade.
This evolution follows five years of learning
through pioneering deployments across
26
20 of the world’s most polluting rivers
and represents a key next step in the
organisation’s mission and the global fight
against ocean plastic pollution.
With the 30 Cities Program, The Ocean
Cleanup will transition from single river
deployments to citywide solutions, tackling
the main plastic emitting waterways within
each selected city.
This follows a key learning from
deployments in Kingston, Jamaica, which
showed it is possible to scale faster when
projects encompass whole cities, as the
same set of partners can be involved with all
deployments.
S U S TA I N A B L E B I Z M A G A Z I N E
OCTOBER 2025
To date, The Ocean Cleanup has already
prevented over 29 million kilograms of
rubbish from reaching the ocean. The
organisation currently intercepts an
estimated 1–3 percent of global river-borne
plastic emissions. With the first 20 river
deployments close to being fully operational,
it is now poised to reduce the plastic
pollution flowing into the ocean from rivers
by up to a third.
“When we take on an entire city, instead
of individual rivers, we can scale faster,
reduce costs, and maximise impact,” said
Boyan Slat, Founder and CEO of The Ocean
Cleanup.
