# Bio-microplastic filtration from wastewater A genuinely thin, emerging vendor market for filtering microplastic fibers and particles out of wastewater at the household, municipal, and industrial scale — three confirmed dedicated vendors, no confirmed Chinese producer as of 2026. Source: https://en.bioecon.ru/technology/bio-microplastic-filtration-wastewater/ Updated: 2026-08-21 ## Overview and value chain Markers: [EC: EU Single-Use Plastics Directive | OECD: environmental-biotech, circular-bioeconomy | Regulator: EPA (USA), REACH (EU)] Microplastic filtration from wastewater removes synthetic fiber and particle fragments — under 5mm, the standard regulatory cutoff — before they reach rivers, oceans, and drinking-water intake. A single household laundry load can shed over 700,000 microfibers; municipal treatment plants remove roughly 90-98% of influent microplastics through conventional sludge processes, but the remaining 2-10% still represents billions of particles discharged annually per plant. The commercial vendor base for *dedicated* microplastic capture — as distinct from general wastewater treatment that incidentally traps some plastic — is small: as of 2026 only a handful of companies sell products built specifically around fiber or particle capture, most still at pre-mass-market scale. This article documents that thin, real, and specifically bio/circular-economy-adjacent segment rather than the broader municipal wastewater industry, which already has its own coverage. The key directions of bio-microplastic filtration are: 1. **Point-source household filtration:** in-line washing-machine filters that intercept synthetic fibers before they enter greywater, sold direct-to-consumer as a retrofit device, typically claiming 90%+ capture by mass. 2. **Bio-based adsorbent media:** engineered polymer or biopolymer sorbents (cyclodextrin-based, silica-biopolymer composites) designed to bind microplastic and co-occurring contaminants like PFAS in flow-through cartridges. 3. **Municipal retrofit filtration:** add-on filtration stages for existing wastewater treatment plants targeting the fraction that survives primary and secondary treatment. 4. **Industrial pre-treatment:** filtration at the point of discharge for textile, tire, and plastics-processing facilities, where influent microplastic concentration is orders of magnitude higher than municipal wastewater. ### Sectoral value chain ``` [Fiber/particle source] ──> [Capture media] ──> [Filtration unit] ──> [Captured solids] │ (treated water discharge) │ ▼ [Solids disposal/reuse] <─── [Media regeneration] <───┘ ``` ### Value chain levels | Level | Description | Key inputs/outputs | |:---|:---|:---| | **Media R&D** | Design of adsorbent/filter media (biopolymer composites, cyclodextrin sorbents, mechanical mesh) | **In:** polymer chemistry, lab testing.
**Out:** validated capture media. | | **Device manufacture** | Fabrication of the physical filter housing/cartridge for household or industrial installation | **In:** capture media, housing components.
**Out:** deployable filter unit. | | **Point-of-source install** | Retrofit installation at washing machines or industrial discharge points | **In:** filter unit.
**Out:** in-line filtration capacity. | | **Municipal retrofit** | Add-on filtration stage bolted onto an existing wastewater treatment plant | **In:** filter media/unit, plant integration.
**Out:** upgraded plant effluent quality. | | **Media regeneration/replacement** | Cleaning or replacing saturated filter media | **In:** used cartridge.
**Out:** regenerated media or waste stream. | | **Solids handling** | Disposal or repurposing of captured microplastic/fiber solids | **In:** captured solids.
**Out:** landfill, incineration, or (rarely) recycled feedstock. | Cross-cutting technologies of the sector: - **Mechanical mesh filtration:** fine-pore physical screens (down to ~1-50 micron) that trap fiber and particle fragments by size exclusion. - **Molecularly-imprinted polymer sorbents:** engineered adsorbent chemistry that selectively binds target contaminant classes, including some PFAS co-removal. - **Silica-biopolymer composite media:** hybrid materials combining mineral and bio-based components for particle capture in flow-through systems. --- ## US The US market is anchored by a single confirmed dedicated vendor working at the adsorbent-media layer, alongside a much larger population of general wastewater-treatment companies for whom microplastic removal is incidental rather than the core product. ### PFAS co-removal, DEXSORB media, municipal pilot programs - **Cyclopure:** commercializes DEXSORB, a molecularly-imprinted cyclodextrin polymer sold as a flow-through cartridge for combined PFAS and microplastic capture, marketed to both residential and commercial/municipal customers; DEXSORB received Massachusetts state approval for PFAS treatment in 2026. - **Municipal pilots:** a small number of US treatment plants have piloted add-on microfiltration stages targeting microplastics specifically, but as of 2026 no additional dedicated-vendor product beyond Cyclopure was confirmed on a live screen. --- ## CN No Chinese vendor with a dedicated, confirmed microplastic-filtration product was found on a live screen in 2026 (both an English-named candidate search and a Chinese-language generic query returned zero name-specific hits). This does not mean no Chinese activity exists — China's textile-manufacturing base is itself a major microfiber source, and academic/pilot-scale research on microplastic removal is active — but no commercial vendor cleared the confirmation bar. ### Textile-source pollution context, academic pilot research, no confirmed vendor - **Regulatory driver:** China's own wastewater discharge standards increasingly reference microplastic monitoring, particularly around textile-manufacturing clusters, creating latent demand this article cannot yet attach to a named commercial vendor. - **Reopen condition:** if a Chinese vendor selling a dedicated microplastic-filtration product surfaces on a future screen, this section should be revised and the company added to the table. --- ## EU The EU has the strongest confirmed vendor base in this thin market, spanning both the household and municipal-retrofit layers, reflecting the EU's earlier and more prescriptive regulatory push on microplastics (the Single-Use Plastics Directive and subsequent restriction proposals). ### Household retrofit filters, PE-X silica-biopolymer media, municipal pilot integration - **PlanetCare:** a Slovenian company selling an in-line washing-machine microfiber filter (PlanetCare 2.0) direct to consumers as a subscription cartridge system, marketed as capturing the majority of shed synthetic fibers per wash. - **Wasser 3.0:** a German company whose PE-X technology — a silica-biopolymer composite adsorbent — targets microplastic, PVA, and PFAS removal from municipal and industrial wastewater streams, with published claims of substantial cost and water savings versus conventional add-on treatment. --- ## Leading companies and research institutes | Company / Institute | Country | Key products / platforms | Tech features | Status 2026 | |:---|:---|:---|:---|:---| | **PlanetCare** | 🇸🇮 Slovenia | *PlanetCare 2.0 microfiber filter* | In-line washing-machine cartridge, subscription replacement model | Active, direct-to-consumer sales | | **Wasser 3.0** | 🇩🇪 Germany | *PE-X silica-biopolymer adsorbent* | Flow-through media for municipal/industrial microplastic, PVA, PFAS removal | Active, pilot and commercial deployments | | **Cyclopure** | 🇺🇸 USA | *DEXSORB cartridge media* | Molecularly-imprinted cyclodextrin polymer, combined PFAS/microplastic capture | Active, Massachusetts PFAS-treatment approval 2026 | --- ## Tech stack and innovations The sector's technology stack is split between mechanical size-exclusion filtration and engineered adsorbent chemistry, with the strongest commercial traction where microplastic removal can be bundled with a higher-value co-benefit (PFAS capture) or sold as a low-cost consumer retrofit. 1. **Mechanical microfiber capture:** - Fine-pore cartridge filters intercept fibers in the 1-50 micron range at the point of generation (the washing machine), avoiding the need for downstream treatment infrastructure. - PlanetCare's subscription-cartridge model shifts the cost from a one-time device purchase to recurring media replacement, which is the dominant commercial pattern at the household layer. 2. **Engineered adsorbent media:** - Molecularly-imprinted polymers (Cyclopure's DEXSORB) and silica-biopolymer composites (Wasser 3.0's PE-X) bind target contaminants at the molecular level rather than relying purely on physical size exclusion. - Combining microplastic capture with PFAS removal in a single media strengthens the commercial case, since PFAS remediation carries more mature regulatory and funding support than microplastic removal alone. 3. **Municipal integration:** - Add-on filtration stages are designed to bolt onto existing treatment infrastructure rather than requiring a new plant, lowering the capital barrier for municipal adoption. - Regeneration and replacement economics remain the open commercial question across the sector — media lifespan and disposal cost are not yet standardized or independently benchmarked. --- ## Value chains and production pipelines ### Industrial pipeline of a municipal microplastic-retrofit filtration stage (EU Single-Use Plastics Directive) ``` ┌───────────────────────────┐ ┌───────────────────────────┐ │ 1. Influent characterization│ ───> │ 2. Media selection │ └───────────────────────────┘ └───────────────────────────┘ │ ▼ ┌───────────────────────────┐ ┌───────────────────────────┐ │ 4. Filtration/adsorption │ <─── │ 3. Unit installation │ └───────────────────────────┘ └───────────────────────────┘ │ ▼ ┌───────────────────────────┐ ┌───────────────────────────┐ │ 5. Media regeneration │ ───> │ 6. Effluent monitoring │ └───────────────────────────┘ └───────────────────────────┘ ``` #### Stage 1: Influent characterization The treatment plant or facility samples influent water to quantify microplastic particle count, size distribution, and polymer type, establishing the baseline the retrofit stage must address. #### Stage 2: Media selection Based on the characterization, an operator selects between mechanical mesh filtration, adsorbent media, or a combination, weighing capture efficiency against media replacement cost. #### Stage 3: Unit installation The filtration unit — a cartridge system for household use or a larger flow-through module for municipal/industrial use — is installed at the point of discharge or as an add-on treatment stage. #### Stage 4: Filtration/adsorption Water passes through the unit; microplastic particles and fibers are captured by size exclusion, molecular binding, or both, with a small number of vendors also co-capturing PFAS. #### Stage 5: Media regeneration Saturated filter media is either cleaned and reused (where the technology supports regeneration) or replaced with fresh media, generating a solid waste stream that itself requires disposal. #### Stage 6: Effluent monitoring Treated water is monitored for residual microplastic concentration to confirm capture performance, an area where standardized measurement protocols are still maturing across the sector. ---