Team details

Team members

• Kang Nee TING
• Christopher Gibbins

Project details

Describe your product and your key goals

<aside> <img src="/icons/apple_blue.svg" alt="/icons/apple_blue.svg" width="40px" /> Describe your product SEAFILM is an eco-friendly, reusable filter designed to reduce microfibre pollution from washing machines. Microfibres, tiny plastic particles shed from synthetic fabrics during laundry, are a major source of water pollution, harming marine life and ecosystems. SEAFILM uses a natural seaweed extract as the key filtering material, which traps microfibres during the washing process, preventing them from entering wastewater systems.

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<aside> <img src="/icons/bullseye_green.svg" alt="/icons/bullseye_green.svg" width="40px" /> What you want to achieve by March 2025

• 6 months: Successfully, complete the project and come up with a working prototype of a microplastic filter for washing machine effluent in microplastic pollution hotspots in Malaysia that includes (working prototype) make the community more knowledgeable about microplastic contaminant that comes mainly from washing our clothes.
• 2 years: Expanding our product in the region to microplastic pollution hotspots in SEA and beyond and scaling up with more sustainable ways </aside>

Describe what you need the most

<aside> <img src="/icons/bell-notification_pink.svg" alt="/icons/bell-notification_pink.svg" width="40px" /> Describe the kinds of help you need the most (funding, expertise, technology, access, etc).

• Funding
• Access </aside>

Describe your customers and the problem you are solving

<aside> <img src="/icons/brain_blue.svg" alt="/icons/brain_blue.svg" width="40px" /> Describe your target customers

• Environmentally Conscious Urban Households:
• Families with Young Children:
• Sustainable Fashion Advocates: </aside>

<aside> <img src="/icons/emoji-disappointed_pink.svg" alt="/icons/emoji-disappointed_pink.svg" width="40px" /> What pain points are you trying to solve?

SEAFILM addresses several key pain points for its target customers:

• Environmental Pollution:
• Lack of Awareness of Microfibre Pollution:
• Limited Access to Effective Solutions:
• Long-term Sustainability and Health Concerns: </aside>

Photos

SEAFILM.mp4

Resources and Materials

Our recent publications in top journals related to our current work on microplastic and its environmental impact

1. 2024: Micro- and nano-plastic loads in fish and macroinvertebrates in a tropical river. Published in Freshwater Biology DOI:10.1111/fwb.14309 This study provides crucial insights into the prevalence of microplastics in aquatic ecosystems, highlighting potential impacts on biodiversity and food safety.
2. 2023: Microplastic concentrations in river water and bed sediments in a tropical river: implications for water quality monitoring. Published in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment DOI:10.1007/s10661-022-10856-5 This publication addresses water quality issues by assessing microplastic contamination levels, underscoring the need for improved monitoring and management strategies.
3. 2022: Relative contributions of different local sources to river-borne microplastic in a mixed land-use area within a tropical catchment. Published in Environmental Research DOI:10.1016/j.envres.2022.112972 This research identifies specific sources of microplastic pollution, providing valuable information for targeted mitigation efforts in urban planning.
4. 2021: Spatio-temporal variation of microplastic along a rural to urban transition in a tropical river. Published in Environmental Pollution DOI:10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117895 This article investigates the dynamics of microplastic distribution, contributing to the understanding of how land-use changes affect pollution patterns.
5. 2021: Microplastic pollution in freshwater systems in Southeast Asia: contamination levels, sources, and ecological impacts. Published in Environmental Science and Pollution Research DOI:10.1007/s11356-021-15826-x This comprehensive review synthesizes current knowledge on microplastic pollution, emphasizing its ecological implications and the urgency for regional action.