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The impact of activewear/swimwear laundering: Investigating microplastic-fibre emissions from recycled and non-recycled synthetic textiles
Summary
This study measured microplastic fiber emissions from four activewear and swimwear fabrics — including a recycled nylon blend — washed 15 times each, finding no significant difference in fiber release between recycled and non-recycled fabrics. Australia's total laundry microfiber burden was estimated to be equivalent to 7,500 plastic bags entering marine environments every week.
Microplastic pollution in oceans is widely documented, with strong links to synthetic textiles and laundry wastewater. This study focussed on the growing activewear/swimwear sector, which utilises textiles including recycled fabrics that are yet to be studied for microplastic-fibre emissions. Four knit fabrics used in activewear/swimwear (two nylon/elastane blends, a recycled nylon/elastane blend, and one 100%-polyester fabric) were washed a total of fifteen times in a front-loading washing machine (three replicates). Microplastic-fibre emissions were captured in the laundry wastewater for washes 1-5 and washes 11-15 for each fabric type. There was no significant difference in microfibre emissions among the fabrics. On average, the fabrics released 0.0035 % weight per weight (% w/w; i.e., 0.0035 g microfibres per 100 g of fabric) microplastic fibres per wash, which is comparable with previous studies of polyester knit and woven fleece textiles. The laundry microfibre burden from Australia was modelled and conservatively calculated to be equivalent to 7500 plastic grocery bags entering marine environments weekly. It was found that lifecycle applications and care of apparel made from these fabric types might result in a significant microplastic-fibre burden. It is imperative that the textile and apparel industry includes in their sustainability and research agendas full investigation of the environmental burden of their product life cycle and solutions to reduce microplastic-fibre emissions.