After a successful trial, cleantech innovator Matter is kicking off their Love Your Lint Campaign. They are asking the public to send their tumble dryer lint to Matter HQ, to uncover how microfibres can be recycled into packaging, insulation and more in order to create a circular economy from waste materials.
The effects of microplastic pollution are all over the news, recent studies even found microplastic in breastmilk. One of the main culprits of this type of pollution is our clothing; today 60% of all textiles are made from plastic fibres, which get washed into our waterways via our washing machines. As this isn’t very visible people may not realise its harm – but one look at your tumble dryer filter and it becomes immediately clear how much of these microfibres are coming off our clothes.
“Our ambition is to create a world with no waste, where today’s waste products are tomorrow’s raw materials”
The green tech innovators recently launched Gulp, the first sustainable, long-lasting washing machine microfibre filter which can catch up to 90% of all these microfibres from every machine wash. After launching its Kickstarter campaign, Matter reached its £10k goal in under 30 minutes. The campaign closed yesterday, surpassing the £100k mark.
Now, the team is showing us how our dryer fluff can be useful.
Love Your Lint
Matter did a trial run of its Love Your Lint campaign last year in partnership with eco-cleaning brand Smol and received 623 parcels of lint weighing over 23kg in total. The total lint they collected was the equivalent of 179 T-shirts! Together with partners such as Brunel University Londo, and Smol, Matter has been able to put this lint to good use. They have used the lint to assess the potential for cellulose extraction, the suitability of compressed microfibre as a replacement for insulation panels and test various recycling applications for sustainable packaging.
This year, Matter wants to scale up the campaign and is calling for the general public to save up their fluff and send it to Matter HQ where it will be used for new and innovative microfibre research projects.
Founder and CEO, Adam Root tells us, “Our ambition is to create a world with no waste, where today’s waste products are tomorrow’s raw materials. The lint you send us will be part of a microfibre research project we are doing to investigate how we can create a circular economy from waste materials.”
To get involved, simply put your lint in an envelope or small box (ideally recycled and not in a plastic bag) and send it to the Matter HQ: Matter, Unit 5, Avon Trading Estate, St Philips, Bristol, BS2 0XA.
