Filters Only Effective, Near-Term Solution to Microfibre Shedding: Industry White Paper

FILTRATION TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS: Three innovative filtration technology solutions are being projected as being effective at reducing the microplastic problem and are available in the near-term.

The first commercial product from UK-based Matter is Gulp – a retrofittable microfibre filter for domestic laundry, designed for consumers. The core pillars of this product are efficiency, sustainability, and usability. 

1. Sustainability means that the product has a positive social and environmental impact, and that it lives by the principles of the circular economy. Usability is critical as, even with perfect filtration technology, it means nothing if consumers are unwilling to engage with it. 
2. Matter's process enables the separation of captured waste from the filter itself, so it is available for recycling. The company is working with researchers and universities to develop new technologies for reusing captured microfibres, as it aims to create a truly closed-loop system and keep this harmful pollution out of landfill.

The next filtration solution comes from PlanetCare a leader in microfibre filtering solutions in Europe. It was in 2019 that PlanetCare put the first purposebuilt, retrofit, external microfibre filter on the market and now has several thousand users around the globe. 

1. The retrofit filter is a passive device that fits all domestic-type washing machines. It is attached directly to the washing machine drain pipe and does not raise water and energy use. The filtration occurs in an exchangeable filter cartridge. 
2. Due to its innovative structure, the cartridge offers high fibre capture rates and has an extended lifetime before it needs to be replaced. The current replacement rate is once per month. 
3. Cartridges are part of a closed-loop circular, return-and-reuse scheme through which customers return used cartridges for refurbishing. 
4. Cartridge bodies are efficiently reused several times and fibre release is avoided due to controlled disassembly and cleaning. 
5. A benefit from this scheme is a faster ramp-up to waste quantities that can support a dedicated recycling process.

The third solution is from Xeros Technology. It has developed a patented filtration technology - XFilter (XF1 ) - the highest performing microfibre filtration device available. 

1. XF1 (the domestic version of XFilter) is designed to be integrated into any domestic washing machine during its manufacture, to help trap the microfibres that clothes release. 
2. To achieve the lowest lifecycle impact on the planet, XFilter is designed to last the lifetime of a washing machine with no replacement cartridges. 
3. It works in the detergent drawer and when full the consumer is alerted by a sensor. They can then easily remove the filter and empty the trapped fibres into household waste, or recycling as and when this capability is developed, making it as simple as emptying the lint from your tumble dryer.

Xeros also has XF2 , the industrial solution of XFilter, which has the same effective capture rates as XF1 but is designed to be compatible at a commercial scale. 

1. The XFilter can either be integrated directly into a commercial washing machine, or as a stand-alone unit that can be attached to a series of machines, or a whole laundry. 
2. The system incorporates a self-cleaning mechanism designed to last 60 wash cycles before it needs to be emptied. It only takes a minute to dispose of the fibres from the collection tray which is then put back into the XFilter to continue to collect further fibre fragments. 
3. In the last 12 months Xeros has licensed their XF1 technology to three European component suppliers to the washing machine industry. 
4. XFilter is engineered to work with any washing machine model to enable partners to scale this solution

THE PROBLEM: Textiles shed microfibres during washing due to the effects of water, friction and abrasion, and detergents. Shedding varies between fabrics and materials, but research shows that some garments can shed hundreds of thousands to millions of microfibres in a single laundry load.

• Synthetic fibres are so inexpensive that they have become ubiquitous in fast fashion. They currently represent a 69% textile market share, and this figure is expected to reach almost 75% by 2030 (a total of more than 101 million tonnes).
• Growing demand for fast fashion and the proliferation of synthetic textiles means plastic microfibres are expected to increase. This is concerning due to the persistence of microplastics in the environment, which poses a serious ecological and public health risk.
• Synthetic fibres represent over two-thirds of textiles, which is predicted to rise to 73% by 2030. 

THE PROBLEM ESCALATES: Although natural, man-made cellulosic and synthetic materials all shed microfibres, synthetic textiles are thought to be the most prevalent source of microplastics found in waterways and soil.

• A pervasive environmental problem, microplastics have infiltrated the most pristine locations on earth, from Antarctic sea ice to the guts of marine animals inhabiting the deepest ocean trenches. They have been found in drinking water and food systems, and it is estimated that 5.6 million tonnes of synthetic microfibres were emitted from clothes washing between 1950 and 2016, with half of this amount being discharged between 2006 and 2016.
• According to a report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, based on current trends, the amount of synthetic microfibres entering the ocean between 2015 and 2050 could accumulate to an excess of 22 million tonnes.
• It is reported that microplastic pollution has increased 10-fold since 2005, with over 171 trillion microplastic particles now floating in our oceans. This figure was calculated from surface water data gathered between 1979 and 2019. Scientists predict this figure will increase a further 2.6-fold from 2016 – 2040.