Plain language summary:

Researchers at the University of Leeds have discovered that the UK's laundry releases up to 1,500 double-decker buses worth of microfibers into the environment every year. The research team used a test to measure how different materials and washing conditions affect the amount of microfibers released into water. They found that fabric characteristics like yarn type, construction, and fibre type had more influence than washing conditions on how many microfibers were released. The findings suggest that microfibre release is a relatively small problem compared to the fashion industry's waste problem. The research team hopes that their findings will help inform washing machine manufacturers about filtering and give a clearer picture of the scale of the problem.