New guides aim to help apparel brands cut microfibre pollution
Microfibres, which are minuscule particles that detach from clothing during various stages such as washing, production, wear, drying, and disposal, represent a notable source of pollution. They affect oceans, agricultural lands, wildlife, air quality, drinking water, and even human health.
The 5 Gyres Institute science & innovation director Dr Lisa Erdle said: 'Mostly invisible to the eye but widespread in our ecosystems, microfibre pollution is an emerging environmental challenge, and something we've seen the fashion industry grapple with.
'Our guides provide brands with the practical, science-backed tools they need to take immediate and effective actions that have a big impact in reducing microfibre shedding.'
The guides provide a suite of practical solutions for brands to implement throughout the textile supply chain. This includes guidance on garment design, material sourcing, and manufacturing processes.
Audience-specific guides in the playbook
Design Solutions: Targets designers and developers and offers alternatives for fibres, yarns, and construction methods.
Sourcing Practices: Directed at sourcing professionals and provides tools for supplier engagement and recommendations for material libraries.
Manufacturing Interventions: Caters to production teams with suggestions on filtration enhancements and washing and finishing techniques.
The Nature Conservancy plastic project director Patrick Journey said: 'The main barrier to addressing microfibre pollution is that brands, designers, and suppliers aren't always aware of the many solutions that can be implemented. These guides shed light on the key levers for impact, which, if scaled across the industry, could turn the tide on this growing conservation crisis.'
"New guides aim to help apparel brands cut microfibre pollution" was originally created and published by Just Style, a GlobalData owned brand.
The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Forbes
7 hours ago
- Forbes
Green Apartments, Carbon-Neutral Hotels: How Tokyo Is Becoming Sustainable
Tsubasa Yokote, representative director of Blueground Japan, in his Tokyo office. Aren Elliott In a wood-paneled boardroom with a commanding view of Tokyo's Imperial Palace, Tsubasa Yokote is trying to explain the city's approach to sustainable tourism. It's not easy. Yokote, representative director of Blueground Japan, says sustainability — best exemplified by the concept of mottainai, which emphasizes avoiding waste — has been part of Japanese society for centuries. Many of the tourism industry's recent efforts to become more sustainable are a direct result of that cultural practice rather than a new movement spurred by climate change or politics. You can see it in Blueground's rental apartments. It's in the recycling stations in the basements, which are standard in most Tokyo apartments. And it's also in the efficiency features that allow you to regulate energy consumption in your home. "All these features are beneficial for the environment," he explains. Blueground Japan, a collaboration with real estate developer Mitsubishi Estate, is a case study in mottainai . Each new apartment is designed with sustainability on several levels — not just in terms of saving energy but also of creating a sustainable business. The medium- and long-term housing market for furnished rentals is still developing, so when Yokote talks about sustainability, he is also talking about Blueground's sustainability. "Tokyo is upholding its high standard of sustainability, from its world-famous public transit system to dauntingly strict garbage sorting rules," says Evelyn Gong, who teaches operations management at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business. She says the city is moving steadily towards its goal of achieving net zero emission by 2050, and its 2030 midway targets such as heightened renewable energy use and halved food waste. The living room in a Blueground rental in Tokyo. Blueground While Blueground Japan exemplifies sustainable urban living, Tokyo's broader travel sector is weaving traditional mottainai values into innovative eco-practices. Here are a few examples of how hotels, restaurants, and cultural experiences are leading the charge: Palace Hotel Tokyo's circular economy The hotel's Eco-Palace initiative turns kitchen waste into fertilizer for local farms. The hotel then buys the resulting crops of rice and produce for incorporation into the staff canteen's daily menu. Kintsugi: The art of sustainable beauty Many Tokyo luxury hotels, including the Palace, offer kintsugi workshops, where guests repair broken pottery with gold — a centuries-old practice that embodies mottainai. Couture designer Kevan Hall, inspired by a Tokyo workshop, noted, 'It's a poetic way to transform flaws into heritage.' Carbon-neutral hotel stays The Tokyo Station Hotel offsets 100 percent of guest stay emissions, while the Imperial Hotel Tokyo replaced plastic amenities with bamboo and wood. Both properties use CO₂-free electricity and hold top certificates in sustainable development. Zero-waste dining The Michelin-starred Daigo restaurant practices shojin-ryori , a Buddhist culinary tradition that minimizes waste. Chef Yusuke Nomura crafts plant-forward kaiseki menus using local ingredients, thereby reducing methane emissions. Rebuilding communities Walk Japan, a tour operator, partners with rural towns in places like earthquake-hit Noto Peninsula, where travelers help rebuild homes and revive abandoned rice paddies. Their tours funnel revenue into local economies, which are trying to counter population decline. Eco-conscious lodging Boutique projects like Nipponia Sawara repurpose historical warehouses into hotels using local materials. At Mt. Fuji's Ecologic, guests join workshops and bike tours supporting nearby farms. Sustainability as a lifestyle in Tokyo One of the best ways of experiencing Tokyo's sustainability is by living it. Blueground, which offers furnished apartment rentals in the city, is tapping into a new market of digital nomads and people who are relocating to Japan. Yokote says Blueground's apartments come with multilingual support to help customers make sense of Japan's mottainai practices. For many visitors, understanding sustainability in Tokyo means more than admiring eco-initiatives from afar — it means stepping into the rhythms of daily life. But Japan's rental housing market often presents hurdles for non-Japanese residents, from stringent lease terms and language barriers to cultural nuances around waste management and energy use. Blueground's furnished apartments aim to bridge this gap, says Yokote. "That means access to housing designed with Japanese values — like minimalism and energy efficiency — while providing the tools to navigate systems that might otherwise feel inaccessible," he says. By embedding sustainability into the fabric of everyday living, Blueground's apartments become gateways to Japan's eco-conscious ethos. Guests learn to separate trash not as a performative act, but as a reflection of mottainai's enduring influence. They interact with systems like energy-efficient appliances and water-saving fixtures, which are standard in Japanese homes but often unfamiliar to outsiders. "When you live here, you start to see how sustainability isn't a trend. It's a mindset passed down through generations, and now it's something visitors can truly inhabit," says Yokote. In Tokyo, looking to the past to create a sustainable future Tokyo's journey toward sustainability is not a race to reinvent itself, as it is in other tourism destinations. At its core lies mottainai, a philosophy that has long whispered the value of resourcefulness. From Blueground Japan's energy-efficient apartments, where global nomads navigate energy-saving systems and strict recycling protocols, to the Palace Hotel Tokyo's closed-loop kitchens and the golden scars of kintsugi workshops, the city is trying to prove that sustainability thrives when it's rooted in heritage. These efforts are neither performative nor peripheral. They are pragmatic evolutions of tradition: Michelin-starred chefs reviving Buddhist culinary ethics to cut food waste, hotels offsetting emissions while preserving the elegance of a bygone era, and rural tours that transform travelers into stewards of revival. Even the challenges — deciphering trash-sorting rules or mastering apartment energy systems — underscore a deeper truth: Sustainability demands both systemic rigor and individual adaptation. 'We're not just saving energy,' Yokote says. 'We're building a sustainable bridge.' But Tokyo's greatest lesson may be its quiet demonstration that the future of sustainability lies not in discarding the past, but maintaining and refining it — one repurposed warehouse, revived rice paddy, and thoughtfully sorted trash bag at a time. In a world grappling with climate urgency, that may be a lesson for other tourism destinations.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
Reckitt Benckiser Group (LON:RKT) Will Pay A Dividend Of £0.844
The board of Reckitt Benckiser Group plc (LON:RKT) has announced that it will pay a dividend on the 18th of September, with investors receiving £0.844 per share. This makes the dividend yield 3.6%, which is above the industry average. Trump has pledged to "unleash" American oil and gas and these 15 US stocks have developments that are poised to benefit. Reckitt Benckiser Group's Future Dividend Projections Appear Well Covered By Earnings If the payments aren't sustainable, a high yield for a few years won't matter that much. Based on the last payment, Reckitt Benckiser Group's profits didn't cover the dividend, but the company was generating enough cash instead. Given that the dividend is a cash outflow, we think that cash is more important than accounting measures of profit when assessing the dividend, so this is a mitigating factor. The next year is set to see EPS grow by 119.0%. If the dividend continues along recent trends, we estimate the payout ratio will be 53%, which would make us comfortable with the sustainability of the dividend, despite the levels currently being quite high. View our latest analysis for Reckitt Benckiser Group Reckitt Benckiser Group Has A Solid Track Record The company has a sustained record of paying dividends with very little fluctuation. The annual payment during the last 10 years was £1.39 in 2015, and the most recent fiscal year payment was £2.02. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 3.8% a year over that time. Although we can't deny that the dividend has been remarkably stable in the past, the growth has been pretty muted. Reckitt Benckiser Group's Dividend Might Lack Growth Investors who have held shares in the company for the past few years will be happy with the dividend income they have received. Reckitt Benckiser Group has impressed us by growing EPS at 37% per year over the past five years. While EPS is growing rapidly, Reckitt Benckiser Group paid out a very high 113% of its income as dividends. If earnings continue to grow, this dividend may be sustainable, but we think a payout this high definitely bears watching. Our Thoughts On Reckitt Benckiser Group's Dividend In summary, while it's always good to see the dividend being raised, we don't think Reckitt Benckiser Group's payments are rock solid. The company has been bring in plenty of cash to cover the dividend, but we don't necessarily think that makes it a great dividend stock. Overall, we don't think this company has the makings of a good income stock. Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. For instance, we've picked out 3 warning signs for Reckitt Benckiser Group that investors should take into consideration. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high yield dividend stocks. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data


Forbes
a day ago
- Forbes
Can Aurora Expeditions Make Polar Cruises Sustainable?
A rendering of Aurora's newest ship, the Douglas Mawson, which is scheduled to set sail in December. Aurora Expeditions Aurora Expeditions, a small Sydney-based cruise line, is on a mission to rewrite the cruise industry's sustainability narrative in a big way. With a focus on expedition cruises to the Arctic and Antarctic, the company is making bold claims about its environmental efforts, including becoming the first cruise line to get B Corporation bragging rights. But can Aurora truly deliver on its promises? And, in an industry notorious for pollution and waste, does sustainability even matter? Reality check: The cruise industry has long been criticized for its reckless environmental practices. For example, cruise ships in Europe emit as much sulfur dioxide as one billion cars, according to a recent study. From carbon emissions to waste disposal, the cruise industry's overall environmental record is downright awful. Against this backdrop, Aurora's claims of sustainability seem almost too good to be true. Sasha Buch, Aurora's sustainability manager, with a model of the Greg Mortimer, one of its expedition vessels. Christopher Elliott "Sustainability is who we are" Sasha Buch, Aurora's sustainability manager, met me at the company's headquarters in the Surry Hills neighborhood of Sydney, a quiet district filled with apartments, office buildings and cafes. One of the first things she told me was that Aurora is a different kind of cruise line. 'Sustainability is who we are,' she says, pointing to the company's founding in 1991 by mountaineer Greg Mortimer and his wife, Margaret, both passionate environmentalists. The B Corporation certification, which Aurora achieved last year, is a designation that requires companies to meet rigorous standards for social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. Becoming a B Corp is a journey, not a destination; standards are revised annually, keeping ever B Corp on its toes. Antarctica is one of the most environmentally fragile places on the planet. getty A closer look at Aurora's sustainability initiatives Aurora's actual sustainability efforts are wide-ranging. Here's a breakdown of their key initiatives: Innovative ships Aurora's fleet includes three state-of-the-art ships designed with sustainability in mind. Features like the X-BOW design, which reduces fuel consumption, and shore-based power systems promise to reduce the environmental impact of cruising. 'Our ships are a testament to what's possible when you prioritize sustainability,' Buch says. Climate action Aurora achieved a carbon-neutral certification in 2021, meaning it measures and offsets its carbon emissions. The company has also partnered with Trace, a green technology company, to map a path to net-zero emissions. 'We're not just offsetting,' Buch told me. "We're actively reducing our emissions." Education and enrichment Aurora's Citizen Science Program allows passengers to participate in data collection, from photographing whales to testing for microplastics. Buch says the educational initiatives deepen their passengers' understanding of the environment and, over time, will support a more sustainable cruising experience. Waste and water management The cruise line adheres to strict international standards for waste and water management, eliminating single-use plastics and using eco-certified cleaning products. Community engagement Aurora's Community Ambassador Program works with Inuit communities in the Arctic to promote cultural exchange and provide economic benefits to indigenous communities. Aurora's newest ship, the Douglas Mawson , also represents a leap forward. It will set the bar for conservation in the Antarctic when it launches in December. Programs such as waste minimization, carbon offset, and collaboration with leading conservation organizations will be built into the cruise experience. Aurora says the ship is designed to minimize environmental impact and will help travelers tread lightly on the fragile polar environment. The big picture: Does sustainability matter? The very nature of cruising — of transporting large numbers of people to remote and fragile ecosystems — is inherently destructive. And in this business, the most popular cruise lines are often the ones who can do it at the lowest price, not the most responsibly. Aurora seems to know that the deck is stacked against a company that puts sustainability rather than profitability in the captain's chair. And there's a sense you get in talking to someone like Buch that it actually likes that kind of challenge. "We're always trying to do more because there's always so much more that can be done,' she says. Buch emphasizes the importance of transparency and accountability in Aurora's sustainability efforts. The company is constantly making course corrections as it aims to become carbon-negative. She says the goal isn't just recycling, but regenerative tourism — going beyond minimizing harm to actively restoring and improving the environments they visit. 'It's about taking care of what we have now for future generations as well as repairing any damage that has been done,' she explains. The company has a checklist of accomplishments, outlined in its latest impact report. It includes becoming carbon-neutral, participating in the cleanups to remove marine debris from the coastlines of Iceland and Svalbard, and demonstrating a "dramatic" reduction of single-use plastics in its operations. The challenges ahead Despite Aurora's efforts, the fundamental question remains: Can an industry built on fossil fuels and mass tourism ever truly be sustainable? Buch is optimistic. 'We have a responsibility to inspire, educate, and advocate for the protection and preservation of the places we visit,' she says. Aurora is making giant strides in sustainability, and its B Corporation certification is a significant achievement. But the company's efforts represent only one step in the cruise industry's journey toward becoming green. And it won't happen unless passengers want it to, which means they're booking more cruises with a company like Aurora. 'We know there's a long way to go,' she says. Aurora's journey toward sustainability is a work in progress — one that will require ongoing accountability and scrutiny. In the meantime, the takeaway is clear for travelers: You have to carefully consider the effect of your next cruise on the environment. It may be worth spending a little extra to go with a company that is dedicated to long-term sustainability.