The Osborne Reef, an artificial reef off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, started in the 1970s as a well-intentioned project to boost marine life. Approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and supported by companies like Goodyear, the reef consisted of over two million tires. However, the project failed spectacularly; the tires, which were inadequately bound with nylon rope and steel clips, broke loose and damaged nearby natural coral reefs.

Cleanup efforts have been ongoing for decades with various groups participating, including the U.S. military. Currently, the eco-focused company 4ocean has adopted the Osborne Reef cleanup as a core mission. The company is selling jewelry made from tires retrieved from the ocean floor to fund the project and has removed a significant number of tires, although an estimated 500,000 still remain.

Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection also actively monitors the reef's status. Despite years of cleanup, the number of remaining tires is still substantial, emphasizing the scale and complexity of the issue. 4ocean aims to set a precedent by using a sustainable, circular model that could guide cleanup of similar failed artificial reefs worldwide.

4ocean aims for a larger-scale recycling of the retrieved tires. Many of these tires are beyond conventional recycling use but are taken to Florida’s Solid Waste Authority, a leading waste management facility. By collaborating with other organizations, 4ocean hopes to create new products from these materials, funding an even more ambitious cleanup effort aimed at solving the ocean plastic crisis.