Microplastics in the environment are poisoning the water we drink, the food we eat and the air we breathe. Microfibres are the most abundant form of microplastic pollution in our rivers and oceans. These are strands of plastic thread, less than 5mm long, that are formed from a vital resource: our clothes.
Synthetic textiles, such as Nylon and Lycra, now make up over 60% of our clothing. In the UK alone, it is estimated that at least 9 trillion microfibres, from all material types, are released into the wastewater system every week. Around 700,000 microfibres are released with each domestic washing cycle through wastewater and flow into the natural environment. Microfibres are now the single biggest source of primary microplastics entering our oceans.
Due to their microscopic scale, microfibres are eaten by, and harm, sea-life from plankton to top predators. These organisms produce 80% of the world's oxygen and absorb the largest amount of carbon on the planet -- more than all trees and plant-life combined. This pervasiveness results in their transfer to humans, where contamination has been observed in crustaceans, molluscs and fish species destined for human consumption.
Matter is a pioneering microplastic capture company working to stop the flow of plastic waste into the ocean. Having successfully designed a filter that stops microfibre pollution from domestic washing machines, this project will make home microfibre filtration available to all. We will create the first microfibre filter that can be used with any washing machine, whatever the make or age, to capture microfibres as they leave the machine in wastewater, without the need for disposables, cartridges or replaceable components.
Furthermore, the system will enable the recycling of microfibres. This resource stream has many applications, including the production of sustainable new products that reduce the need for new plastics and increase participation in the circular economy.
This disruptive innovation will have many positive economic and environmental impacts. It will provide a UK designed filtration system for international export, create a new UK based supply chain, bring together a network of businesses, and create new jobs. Collaboration with academia will facilitate knowledge transfer within the emerging field of microplastics and will provide confidence in the final system by scientifically validating the product. The success of this project will enable billions of microfibres to be captured, creating value from an otherwise wasted resource that is polluting the natural environment.
Small Business Research Initiative
Matter (Inheriting Earth Limited) is a pioneering microplastic capture technology company. We will develop a robust and easily maintained 'Smart Micro-pollutant Gully Filter' that will insert into existing gullies. It will capture roadside micro-pollutants at source, create value from otherwise wasted resources through the circular economy and mitigate the risk of flooding through IoT asset management. We will accelerate development in this emerging field by combining our existing capability and patents in filtration with leading scientists and stakeholders in the drainage sector. Matter will be the first to combine and update roadside filtration and IoT asset management technologies to provide a solution that is tailored for the UK market.
"Microfibres are the most abundant form of microplastic pollution in our rivers and oceans. Unlike microbeads, which are easily excluded from our toiletries and cleaning products, microfibres are formed through damage to a vital resource, our clothes. Wear and tear caused by abrasive forces in our washing machines result in the fragmentation of man-made textiles, forming hundreds of thousands of microfibres, less than 5 mm in length, which leak from our homes and drainage networks into the ocean. The filters in our washing machines cannot catch these fibres, and wastewater treatment plants cannot remove the millions that pass through them every day. Currently, secondary level water treatment removes around 98% of the microplastics that pass through them, however, the small proportion that escapes still equates to tens of millions of fibres per treatment works per day. Unfortunately, even fibres removed from the water and subsequently may be passed to the environment as digested ""sewage sludge"" spread on agricultural land.
Inheriting Earth is working to stop the flow of plastic waste into the ocean. The project aims to reduce the level of microfibers released to the environment by understanding which washing methods create the most fibres (allowing people to minimise wear to their clothes as well as limiting the production of fibres) and by developing specialised filters able to catch the fibres we do create. This latter approach uses an innovative design that can be plugged into any machine and installed in a few minutes. It will filter fibres and other tiny particles smaller than a human hair to create a solution that everyone can be a part of. In achieving this we will also create a new reliable plastic resource which can be used to make new products, lessening the need for new plastics and increasing participation in the circular economy. Inheriting Earth will kick-start this process by partnering with major recyclers to repurpose the fibres, diverting the millions heading into the environment.
The funding provided will bring together some of the best names in the UK industry including Adam Root the founder of Inheriting Earth (a winner of the young innovator of the year award), Dr Natalie Welden of Glasgow University, Dean Carran of JNDC Design consultancy and BEKO the international white goods manufacturer. Together, they aim to create a total solution capable of capturing plastic from our waste water and take plastic out of our food chain."