Read again? Negative is the enemy of good, and this project was a net negative. As PR it went well, if you didn't examine it too closely. It was a misnomer from the start - it was 'harbor cleanup' or 'river cleanup' really. Where the big obvious plastic objects are. I don't believe they proposed any method for actually cleaning up the 'garbage patch' which consists of pepper-sized particles of plastic that requires a sieve to see. And which has been colonized by many marine creatures, so 'cleaning it up' would have the side effect of mass sterilization.

Issues are hard. PR is easy, especially if you hand-wave over the hard stuff.

They're still doing ocean cleanup, too. Getting the fishing equipment out of the water is a huge improvement.