In the inaugural post of the Social Innovation series we decided to take a look at the innovation that addresses probably one of the most widely-spoken problems – plastic.
Reusable coffee cups and water bottles, beeswax food wraps or glass containers, shopping bags made of cotton – all these solutions help reduce plastic waste that enters landfills and the oceans. However, microplastic represents even bigger environmental and health threat. Microplastics have been found not only in our oceans but also in air, soil, food and the human body.
Did you know that 60% of the microplastics1 comes from microfibers that are released in huge numbers during the washing of synthetic clothes & textiles?
The Slovenian start-up PlanetCare has designed the The PlanetCare Microfibre Filter that can be attached to every type of washing machine and catches fibres shed from textiles and clothes during washing. Replace the cartridge once a month and you will cut your fibre emissions by 90%! The cartridge can be cleaned, refurbished and sent back to you. The entire solution costs roughly the equivalent of one cup of coffee a week.2
The filter has undergone four external tests and PlanetCare continues testing it in labs and at home. We are very excited to see such solutions appearing in the market and are looking forward to seeing what PlanetCare will achieve in the future!
Written by Olga Bratsun
1 Plastics, Plastics Everywhere, by Sherri A. Mason
