Founded in 2017 and based in Bude, Cornwall, Cleaner Seas Group is a purpose driven business that aims to develop solutions to microplastic ocean pollution.
It is estimated that 14 million tonnes of microplastic litter the ocean floor. 35% of this pollution is thought to come from using the washing machine, as the friction caused by the clothing releases microfibres into the wastewater.
Marine and Natural History Photography lecturer from Falmouth University, Joanna Henley says: "Plastic microfibres are a largely unseen threat to marine life. Whilst there is a great blue wave of effort to clean visible, macro plastics from our ocean and beaches, tiny microplastic fragments and fibres are much harder to see and therefore remove."
She adds that: “Plastic pollution is also a sponge for other toxic pollutants in the ocean, which can stick to its surface, magnifying the impact on the marine life exposed to it.”
Impact Director of Cleaner Seas Group, Avril Greenaway says: “A high percentage [of microfibres] are captured at water treatment works but end up in sludge. And then there’s a small percentage that doesn’t get treated at all, which washes straight into the ocean. Per household per year, approximately ninety-one million microfibres are produced”
This is where Cleaner Seas Group comes in: “We have to try and prevent it and stop it at source, but how do we meaningfully stop that where we can? Washing machines are somewhere we can actually meaningfully capture”, Greenaway says.
Cleaner Seas Group developed Indi, microfibre capture technology in the form of a washing machine attachment. Made from 75% recycled plastic, the device captures ninety percent of microfibres in a cartridge-based system. It is low energy use and lasts up to one hundred washes before it needs replacing. Circularity is also a big part of Cleaner Seas Group and so old cartridges can be sent back free of charge where they will be recycled.
But how does it actually work?
Indi sends wastewater from your washing machine through a filter and into a cartridge system. The microfibres are collected and the rest of the cleaned water is drained out into the washing machine.
What else can you do to reduce microfibre pollution?
Greenaway says: “Load your washing machine right up so there’s less friction, always wash on a low temperature and on a delicate wash. If you’re using washing liquid, you want to use something that’s not going to harm the environment”.
Greenaway says another way to reduce microfibre pollution is by buying second hand. She explains: “Buy from eBay and Vinted, because once clothes have been worn a few times, they shed less fibres.”
And the most obvious of all tips: “Wash less. Just don’t wash your clothes. My kids love that one.”
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