30% Of Microplastic Pollution Comes From Washing Clothes, But This Company Has A Solution
Credit to Author: Chanan Bos| Date: Mon, 02 Dec 2019 20:30:37 +0000
Published on December 2nd, 2019 | by Chanan Bos
December 2nd, 2019 by Chanan Bos
Image: Micro Catch
While cotton is a natural product, materials like polyester, nylon, acrylics, and spandex are not, and each time we wash them they “shed” a lot of microplastics. As a matter of fact, one washing cycle can produce as many as 700,000 plastic microfibers. While some wastewater treatment plants do try to filter out these , this isn’t the case for all wastewater treatment plants around the world and they are actually not that effective. Attempting to extract microplastics from waste water is the same as trying to take out the eggs after you’ve baked the cake, although I guess in the case of waste water that would be a pretty disgusting cake, but you get my point. Once again the answer lies in catching as many of the microplastics at the source as possible, or in other words decentralize the solution.
That is where the aptly named startup company comes in. The company has come up with a great way to significantly reduce the problem at the source, directly at the washing machine. Its solution is a new kind of smart filter that can either be integrated or added onto existing washing machines. The final product will be a two stage filter, but the single stage prototype already filters as much as 80% of the microfibers. Hopefully one day these kinds of filters will be found everywhere. The company hopes to finalize its 2-stage proof of concept within the next year and a half.
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Chanan Bos Chanan grew up in a multicultural, multi-lingual environment that often gives him a unique perspective on a variety of topics. He is always in thought about big picture topics like AI, quantum physics, philosophy, Universal Basic Income, climate change, sci-fi concepts like the singularity, misinformation, and the list goes on. Currently, he is studying creative media & technology but already has diplomas in environmental sciences as well as business & management. His goal is to discourage linear thinking, bias, and confirmation bias whilst encouraging out-of-the-box thinking and helping people understand exponential progress. Chanan is very worried about his future and the future of humanity. That is why he has a tremendous admiration for Elon Musk and his companies, foremost because of their missions, philosophy, and intent to help humanity and its future. He sees Tesla as one of the few companies that can help us save ourselves from climate change.