NGO Prepares to Clean World’s Most Polluting Rivers

The Ocean Cleanup, a Dutch non-profit developing advanced technologies to rid the oceans of plastic, prepares to tackle the world’s 1000 most polluting rivers by partnering with MHE-Demag to scale up the design, manufacture, and service of The Ocean Cleanup’s Interceptor to extract plastic from rivers before entering the ocean.

Deploying Interceptors on a large scale is necessary to rapidly address the urgent problem of ocean plastic pollution. Laying the groundwork for global scaleup, Interceptors 005 and 006 are currently being manufactured simultaneously at MHE-Demag’s facility in Klang, Malaysia and are expected to be completed in May 2021.

Moving forward, MHE-Demag will handle Interceptor manufacturing, installation, and maintenance; local partners will oversee operations, and The Ocean Cleanup will continue to act as the technology and best practices provider as well as lead business development for upcoming Interceptor projects.

The Ocean Cleanup’s Interceptor was unveiled in late 2019 and there are currently three deployed in Klang, Malaysia; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. A fourth Interceptor, in Vietnam, has been delayed for deployment and is expected to be launched early in 2021.

Over the last year and a half, The Ocean Cleanup has used the insights from these pilot systems to understand and further develop the technology for more efficient mass production. These upgrades include changes to the conveyor, shuttle, dumpsters, and barge. Working together with MHE-Demag, these changes have been incorporated into the third-generation design, which is the blueprint for the Interceptors being manufactured in 2020 and 2021.