Mankind's first Ocean Cleanup Expedition is on its way to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), 1100 nautical miles off the San Francisco Coaste.
This is by far the first and biggest attempt to collect the plastic debris floating in the ocean.

(Source)

The Problem

There are a total 5 dense soup of microplastics throughout the world, located in the world's 5 major gyres. These gyres are the region where ocean water flow in the form of whirlpools. The ocean water flows in and out of these gyres. The plastic waste dumped into the ocean from all across the globe eventually reach here and gets trapped into these gyres.
The biggest of these gyres is Northern Pacific Gyre and it is where the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is located.

(Source)
Filling of these gyres are being filled with plastic garbage presents a serious problem, that we are just now beginning to realize. e.g. marine animal end up consuming microplastics in search of food and get poisoned.
The other problem is the ability of microplastics to absorb persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and contaminating the whole food chain.

(Source)

The Ocean Cleanup

A Dutch non-profit organization named 'The Ocean Cleanup' has launched the first ever Ocean Cleanup Campaign in the history of mankind.
The company launched their first apparatus called System 001 on September 08, off the San Francisco Coast, and it is on its way to Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) where perform the cleaning job. This will serve as a prove of the concept of The Ocean Cleanup's technology.

As per statement:

System 001 consists of a 600-meter-long (2000 ft) U-shaped floating barrier with a three-meter (10 ft) skirt attached below. The system is designed to be propelled by wind and waves, allowing it to passively catch and concentrate plastic debris in front of it. Due to its shape, the debris will be funnelled to the center of the system. Moving slightly faster than the plastic, the system will act like a giant Pac-Man, skimming the surface of the ocean.

---

(Source)
It is anticipated that the first of collected waste plastic batch will reach land to be recycled, after 6 months. The performance of System 001 will also be monitored via support ships, as the data collected will be used for future improvements and refinements in the technology.
If System 001 proves to be a success and meets the anticipated performance parameters, The Ocean Cleanup plans to go for a full scale deployment. With full scale deployment they hope to clean at least 50% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch every 5 year.

(Source)

What Hangs in The Balance

If the current plastic dumping into the ocean left unchecked, it is estimated that by 2050 the total weight of plastic in ocean will outweigh all the fish.
Considering the odds, it is imperative that the System 001 meets success, for sake of our planet.

But

Cleaning of the Ocean is only half of the solution. The other half is significantly reducing the amount of plastic produced.
Why produce plastic in first place???
Steps should be taken to curb the production of all non-essential plastic items. Public awareness is also a critical part, making people to change the way their use plastics and promote the use of reusable/recyclable items.

Sources:

1. https://www.theoceancleanup.com/
2. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/5-ocean-garbage-patches-plastic-pollution/
3. https://interestingengineering.com/worlds-first-ocean-cleanup-system-heads-for-largest-ocean-garbage-patch