Home Filtration

New filters and other devices designed to capture microplastic fibers in the washing machine, before they are flushed into wastewater for treatment by inefficient plants, and released into public waterways, have entered the market. One item, the Cora Ball, is thrown in with the wash and catches between 26 and 35 percent of the fibers emitted in a washload before they enter the wastewater. Another product, an external washing machine filter, catches up to 87 percent.(20) Researchers say using gentle detergents and washing on the gentle cycle causes less shedding. Machines that have a center agitator emit more fibers than those that don’t.

Consumers can’t solve it alone: “We are strong believers that this isn't something that should be borne entirely by the customer, and the Cora Ball cannot, was not designed to be, the only answer,” says inventor Rachael Miller of the Rozalia Project, a clean oceans organization. It’s asking too much of individual consumers to filter their wash and dispose of the collected microplastic fibers. The real answers, experts say, lie with the apparel industry, washing machine manufacturers, and wastewater treatment authorities. “We need to find design solutions at the beginning of their life to reduce the amount of shedding,” says Emma Priestland of Friends of the Earth.