Ocean plastic — measured & removed
The ocean is a system.
So is the fix.
CURRENT is a nonprofit that treats ocean plastic as an engineering problem: instrument it, model it, remove it at the source and at sea — and publish every number along the way.
Cumulative removed · M kg
+134% YoY0.0Mkg
Plastic removed
0rivers
Being intercepted
0.0Mkm²
Ocean area addressed
0%solar
Interceptor fleet
Our approach
Two problems, two systems.
Close the tap and drain the bath at once: clean the plastic already at sea, and intercept more in the rivers that carry it.
Clean what's there
Ocean Systems
A passive barrier, towed slowly through an accumulation zone, concentrates decades of drifting plastic into a retention zone for extraction.
6,200 m
Span, current system
Stop the source
River Interceptors
Solar-powered, autonomous craft moored in the world's most-polluting rivers catch plastic before it ever reaches the sea.
50 m³
Captured per cycle
“If you can measure it, you can manage it.
We measure everything.”
— The CURRENT operating principle
The journey
Proof, year over year.
- 2021
Proven at scale
A redesigned system demonstrates sustained, predictable collection across a full open-ocean season.
- 2022
1 million kg removed
Combined ocean and river operations cross their first million kilograms of plastic removed.
- 2023
Certified recycled material
Ocean plastic is turned into fully traceable, third-party-certified recycled material for the first time.
- 2024
Fleet reaches 28 rivers
The Interceptor fleet scales across 28 rivers on three continents, with more in commissioning.
Latest
From the field.
Oceans
Extraction log: the summer campaign
A full season of offshore collection, told in numbers, weather windows and hard-won lessons.
Jun 24, 2026 · 6 min
Rivers
A difficult estuary, finally online
What it took to commission an Interceptor in one of the hardest river mouths we've faced.
Jun 10, 2026 · 4 min
Technology
Design notes: the next-generation system
The engineering trade-offs behind our latest iteration — and the ones we got wrong first.
May 28, 2026 · 8 min