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

“微纤维是我们河流和海洋中最丰富的微塑料污染形式。与微珠不同，微珠很容易被排除在我们的洗漱用品和清洁产品之外，而微纤维是通过破坏一种重要的资源--我们的衣服--而形成的。洗衣机中研磨力造成的磨损导致人造纺织品碎裂，形成数十万条长度不到5毫米的微纤维，这些纤维从我们的家和排水网络泄漏到海洋中。我们洗衣机中的过滤器无法过滤这些纤维，污水处理厂也无法去除每天通过它们的数百万人。目前，二级水处理去除了大约98%通过它们的微塑料，然而，逃逸的一小部分仍然相当于每个处理厂每天数千万纤维。不幸的是，即使是从水中移走的纤维，随后也可能作为消化的“污水污泥”散布在农田上。与生俱来的地球正在努力阻止塑料垃圾流入海洋。该项目旨在通过了解哪些洗涤方法产生的纤维最多(允许人们最大限度地减少对衣服的磨损以及限制纤维的产生)，以及开发能够捕捉我们确实产生的纤维的特殊过滤器，来减少释放到环境中的微纤维的水平。后一种方法使用了一种创新的设计，可以插入任何机器并在几分钟内安装。它将过滤纤维和其他比人类头发更小的微小颗粒，创造出一种每个人都可以参与的解决方案。为了实现这一目标，我们还将创造一种新的可靠的塑料资源，可用于制造新产品，减少对新塑料的需求，并增加对循环经济的参与。继承地球将启动这一进程，与主要的回收公司合作，重新利用纤维，将数百万流入环境的资金转移到环境中。所提供的资金将汇集英国行业的一些最好的名字，包括继承地球的创始人亚当·鲁特(年度年轻创新者奖获得者)，格拉斯哥大学的娜塔莉·威尔登博士，JNDC设计咨询公司的迪恩·卡伦，以及国际白色家电制造商Beko。他们共同致力于创造一种整体解决方案，能够从我们的废水中捕获塑料，并将塑料从我们的食物链中移除。“

"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."