What does it mean to capture microplastics from laundry water, and how would you prove it? At Mimbly, we are looking for a bachelor’s or master’s student to develop a reliable way to measure filtration efficiency and investigate how that performance is defined in legislation, policy proposals and standards.

Mimbly develops Mimbox, a system for reusing water from commercial washing machines. This project focuses on microplastic filtration: how to test it, how to interpret the results and how to make meaningful comparisons between technologies and performance claims.

The project:

A filtration percentage only becomes meaningful when you know what was measured. Does it refer to particle number or mass? Which fibre sizes and polymers are included? Is the result based on a single pass through a filter or the total discharge from a complete washing and cleaning cycle?

You will connect two parts of the same question: develop a practical measurement method for Mimbly, and examine how its results relate to the definitions and test conditions used in relevant requirements and proposals.

Develop a method for measuring filtration efficiency:

You will review available methods, select a feasible approach and develop a repeatable test protocol for laundry water. The aim is to test and validate the method through repeated experiments, then use it to assess the Mimbox´s filtration performance.

Connect the measurements to legislation and standards:

How do legislators and standards bodies describe microplastic filtration, and what evidence do they ask for? You will review relevant legislation, legislative proposals and test standards, starting with the EU and selected national initiatives.

Compare their terminology, size ranges, performance metrics and test conditions. Distinguish adopted requirements from proposals and voluntary standards, and examine whether they address domestic washing machines, commercial equipment or external filters.

Your findings will help explain which results can be compared, what a filtration claim actually demonstrates and what additional testing Mimbly would need for a particular requirement or claim.