Worried about your laundry releasing microplastics? A filter could be a simple solution

Inbuilt microfibre filters are scarce, meaning that retrofitted washing machine filters are the only effective near-term solution to reduce the release of microfibres into the environment. Photograph: Guido Mieth/Getty Images

You might not know it, but installing a washing machine filter might be one of the simplest defences against microplastics entering the ocean.

Scientists estimate there are 14m tonnes of microplastic on the ocean floor, and a further 24tn grains floating on the surface of the ocean. Microplastics come from many sources – they can shed from clothes, sneakers and bags made from synthetic materials; or they can be the product of larger pieces of plastic breaking down into smaller and smaller particles.