Marine plastic waste is a , but non-profit the Ocean Cleanup has been taking a bite out of floating trash in oceans and rivers for the last few years. Now pop-rock band Coldplay is about to use some of that waste for a limited special edition of its forthcoming album. The idea for the began in 2012, when a student from Delft University of Technology presented an idea for tackling the huge plastic problem in our oceans.
Boyan Slat's vision became reality in 2019 when the first floating waste by prototype System 001/B from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and shipped to shore for processing. A fashioned from this waste went up for sale the following year. Subsequent missions have started to put a dent in the monstrous Patch, but the non-profit has also been trying to stop the flow of waste plastic at its source.
The first barges were deployed in Asian rivers in late 2019, each deploying a boom across a section of waterway to trap trash before it made it into the ocean. More , and then Coldplay got onboard with the project in 2021 by funding a new vessel dubbed the for deployment in Malaysia. "Without action, there could be more plastic than fish in the oceans by 2050, which is why the Ocean Cleanup’s work is so vital," said the award-winning pop-rock group at the time.
"We’re proud to sponsor Interceptor 005 – aka Neon Moon 1 – which will catch thousands of tons of waste before it reaches the ocean." A was deployed in Indonesia last year, and now the partnership has join.
