Qualitative Mass Flow Analysis of Microplastics Release

From wearing to storing clothes, what is the release of microplastics in a household when it comes to textiles? APPLiA produced a qualitative assessment detailing the implications of each process, in an interactive flowchart available here.

Microplastic pollution is a global challenge across many industries and sectors. In the context of the new EU regulatory initiative aiming to curb the emissions of microplastics into the environment, the European Commission launched a public call for evidence to inform an impact assessment and policymaking. 

Building on this, APPLiA submitted its feedback and ran in parallel, a qualitative assessment on the user phase of the textile. Production and disposal were not considered, as APPLiA does not have the correct expertise to assess these two technical processes. Nevertheless, it shall be acknowledged that when the textile enters into the user phase, it is already carrying a large amount of microparticles, including microplastics.