Boyan Slat of Holland is the creator of the project, and he had this to say about its initial success: “Our ocean cleanup system is now catching plastic of all kinds... from one-tonne ghost nets to tiny microplastics! We have a proven self-contained system that is using the natural forces of the ocean to passively catch and concentrate plastics. This gives us sufficient confidence in the general concept to keep expanding.” The project was started in 2013 and its design underwent several major revisions before a successful model was achieved. The plan is to now scale up the operation to a full fleet of these machines, with the aim of cleaning up most of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.