Commercialisation of a retrofittable microplastics filter for domestic washing machines

环境中的微塑料正在毒害我们喝的水、吃的食物和呼吸的空气。微纤维是我们河流和海洋中最丰富的微塑料污染形式。这些是一股不到5毫米长的塑料线，由一种重要的资源——我们的衣服——制成。合成纺织品，如尼龙和莱卡，现在占我们服装的60%以上。据估计，仅在英国，每周至少有9万亿个各种材料的微纤维被排放到废水系统中。在每次家庭洗涤循环中，约有70万根微纤维通过废水排放到自然环境中。微纤维现在是进入海洋的初级微塑料的最大单一来源。由于其微小的规模，微纤维被从浮游生物到顶级捕食者的海洋生物吃掉并伤害它们。这些生物产生了世界上80%的氧气，并吸收了地球上最多的碳——比所有树木和植物加起来都多。这种普遍性导致它们转移到人类身上，在供人类食用的甲壳类动物、软体动物和鱼类中已观察到污染。Matter是一家开创性的微塑料捕获公司，致力于阻止塑料废物流入海洋。该项目成功设计了一种过滤器，可以阻止家用洗衣机对微纤维的污染，该项目将使所有人都能使用家庭微纤维过滤。我们将创造第一个可用于任何洗衣机的微纤维过滤器，无论其制造或使用年限如何，都可以在废水中离开机器时捕获微纤维，而不需要一次性用品，墨盒或可更换组件。此外，该系统将使回收微纤维成为可能。这种资源流有许多应用，包括生产可持续的新产品，减少对新塑料的需求，增加对循环经济的参与。这种颠覆性创新将产生许多积极的经济和环境影响。它将为国际出口提供一个英国设计的过滤系统，创建一个新的英国供应链，汇集一个商业网络，并创造新的就业机会。与学术界的合作将促进新兴微塑料领域的知识转移，并通过科学验证产品，为最终系统提供信心。这个项目的成功将使数十亿的微纤维能够被捕获，从污染自然环境的资源中创造价值。

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.