Stopping Ocean Plastic at source - The reduction and removal of microfiber plastic from waste water discharge in washing machines

"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."