👕 Filter captures 97% of microfibres from the wash

• Washing machines release large amounts of microfibres that end up in waterways and oceans.
• A filter fitted to the washing machine collects the fibres before they reach the drain.
• The filter captures 97 percent of microfibres and is now sold in more than 30 European markets and the UK.

A filter that cleans itself

Adam Root, founder of the company Matter Industries in Bristol, has developed a filter that captures microfibres from washing machines. The company states that the filter collects 97 percent of the fibres before they leave the machine.

Each wash cycle produces about one gram of fibre waste. To capture as much as possible, the filter's mesh needs to be very fine, which means it can clog easily. Root's filter therefore rinses itself clean after each wash so that the water can keep passing through. According to Root, it is this function that sets the filter apart from other similar solutions.

The filter captures not only plastic fibres but all types of textile fibres. Anja Brandon, director of plastics policy at the US organisation Ocean Conservancy, points out that other textiles also contain chemicals and colourants that affect the environment. The waste should be put in the bin, not flushed down the drain.

Microfibres are the most common microplastic

An estimated 69 percent of all clothing contains plastic textiles based on fossil fuels, such as polyester, nylon and acrylic. These materials shed billions of fibres into the environment. In the UK alone, household washing machines release between 6,000 and 87,000 tonnes of clothing fibre into rivers and oceans each year. In the US, the amounts are considerably larger due to a larger population, more frequent washes and more activewear.

Several studies show that microfibres are the most common type of microplastic in the environment. They are found in the air, in drinking water and in food, and they appear in tissue samples from a wide range of species. The fibres can make up more than 90 percent of the microplastic that marine animals ingest.

From a garage floor to a partnership with Bosch and Siemens

The experiment that led to the filter took shape on a wet garage floor a few years ago, with an investment of 250 pounds. Root connected a homemade microplastic filter to an old washing machine and showed that he could capture microfibres.

Root started out as a mechanical engineer and then worked on product innovation at Dyson. It was diving that made him see how extensive ocean pollution is. A grant from the Prince's Trust made it possible to build the first prototype, which earned him the Young Innovator of the Year award from Innovate UK and helped get the company started in 2018.

Since then, Matter Industries has raised 20 million dollars, employed 50 people and entered into a partnership with Bosch and Siemens. They manufacture units with the company's Regen filter technology. In 2025, Matter came second in the oceans category of the Earthshot Prize.

Filters in factories too

Matter will soon test the technology at an industrial scale in textile factories in Portugal, Egypt and Bangladesh. The factories produce several kilometres of fabric a day, which is washed and dyed in multiple rounds. The process generates large amounts of fibre waste. One factory that Matter examined produced 360 tonnes of waste per year, which is sometimes discharged directly into rivers.

Root wants to see the filters in municipal wastewater treatment plants in the long term, to capture as much microplastic as possible before it reaches the sea. He is also pushing for legislation that would require microfibre filters in all washing machines in the UK.

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