One third of microplastic in the oceans comes from washing clothes - really?

I recently heard a claim that a third of microplastic in the ocean comes from laundry, as synthetic clothes shed fibres in the wash. (This was on a radio program called New Year Solutions: clothes, on radio 4.) This struck me as unlikely so I checked and I believe I found the source: a report from the IUCN in 2017[1]. They do indeed estimate that a third of primary microplastics come from laundry – averaged over the world. However this varies hugely in different regions. I found estimates specific to the UK in a report by Eunomia for Friends of the Earth [2]. They found that only 8% of UK primary microplastic is from laundry. The bulk is actually from tyre wear from cars and lorries.

Can we make more sustainable clothing choices?

I was dismayed to read recently of the extent of plastic pollution due to microfibres that come off our clothes when we wash them. Depending on how sewage is disposed of these fibres will get into the sea or our agricultural soils. Ecologist Mark Browne has found that 85% of the human made material on the shoreline consists of microfibers of nylon and acrylic, almost certainly from clothes [1]. However, some synthetics are biodegradable and when other aspects of sustainability such as carbon emissions or water use are considered synthetics are often a good choice. In practice there are a lot of factors and our behaviour, in particular how we wash and dry our clothes, how often we do this, how long we keep them and how we dispose of them when we have finished with them all make a big difference.

How do you dry your washing in the summer?

Using the sun to dry your washing saves carbon emissions and £s

Do you use the tumble dryer to dry your washing even when it is warm and sunny? About half of households who have tumble dryers use them all year round, regardless of the weather. On average tumble dryers are used about 5 times per week, consuming 1.5 kWh each time. Over a year that costs around £55 and generates about 200 kg CO2. However many households use the tumble dryer a lot less or not at all in the summer, saving £s and carbon emissions [1].