Evaluating The Ocean Cleanup, a Marine Debris Removal Project in the North Pacific Gyre, Using SWOT Analysis

Abstract

Plastic pollution in oceans, also known as marine debris, is a growing problem at local and global scales. Anthropogenic marine debris poses a serious threat to many marine species, both through physical harm such as ingestion or entanglement and by carrying toxins and pathogens. This debris accumulates in oceanic gyres, concentrating these effects in some specific areas. In addition, marine debris may have devastating impacts on tourism and fishing-based economies, especially where ocean currents direct this debris. Recently, a nonprofit organization called The Ocean Cleanup proposed the first large-scale in situ marine debris removal project. The Ocean Cleanup is a project attempting to use large, floating, semi-fixed screens to harness ocean currents and accumulate debris, where it can be efficiently collected and disposed of or recycled. The project currently is working on implementing itself in the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” in the North Pacific Gyre. We examine this project case, as it is the first organization attempting to clean up marine debris at this scale. Understanding the potential efficacy and limitations of The Ocean Cleanup Project as a case study can give critical insights into how other projects could be created in the future to address marine plastic pollution worldwide. Using SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis to assess a marine debris cleanup can inform both a nuanced evaluation of the specific case as well as provide a means to explore marine debris as a complex, global environmental problem.

Feasibility Study on Biomonitoring of Microplastics in Fish Gastrointestinal Tracts

“…We conducted a SWOT ("strengths, " "weaknesses, " "opportunities, " and "threats") analysis of the implementation of a biomonitoring programme for MPs extracted from fish GIT matrices based on data collected along the project, as well as on the expertise of the authors and the available literature on MP biomonitoring. This type of qualitative analysis has been previously used in the fisheries sector for example to discuss the sustainable exploitation of stocks (Glass et al, 2015), and in plastic pollution research to evaluate a marine litter clean-up technology (Morrison et al, 2019). In the SWOT analysis, "strengths" are defined as characteristics that give a project or organisation competitive advantage; "weaknesses" as limitations or disadvantages; "opportunities" as external factors that may be beneficial and "threats" as external factors that may be harmful (Morrison et al, 2019).…”

“…This type of qualitative analysis has been previously used in the fisheries sector for example to discuss the sustainable exploitation of stocks (Glass et al, 2015), and in plastic pollution research to evaluate a marine litter clean-up technology (Morrison et al, 2019). In the SWOT analysis, "strengths" are defined as characteristics that give a project or organisation competitive advantage; "weaknesses" as limitations or disadvantages; "opportunities" as external factors that may be beneficial and "threats" as external factors that may be harmful (Morrison et al, 2019).…”

A Novel Multi-Robot Task Allocation Model in Marine Plastics Cleaning Based on Replicator Dynamics

“…Chinese researchers discovered plastic and microplastics in the Mariana Trench, proving that plastic pollution has affected the deepest part of the seabed [25]. As COVID-19 is raging, a non-government organization (NGO) [26] stated that more than 1.5 billion masks had entered the ocean in 2020 [27]. Furthermore, the organization added that these masks would cost at least 450 years to degrade.…”

Clustering of Marine‐Debris‐ and Sargassum‐Like Drifters Explained by Inertial Particle Dynamics

“…Floating matter of a very diverse nature ranging from microplastics (Cózar et al, 2014) to larger objects (Maximenko et al, 2019; Van Sebille et al, 2020) is commonly found throughout the oceans. The monitoring and forecast of their trajectories are key to improving the efficiency of marine debris (Morrison et al, 2019) and Sargassum (Langin, 2018) removal efforts, search‐and‐rescue operations of different types (Breivik et al, 2013; Serra et al, 2020), and marine safety (Hong et al, 2017). However, forecasting the trajectories of floating matter is challenging due to a number of forcing agents controlling its motion.…”