CLEANR won six “Best of IFA 2023” awards at IFA Berlin, the world’s largest appliance industry conference, last week after debuting its breakthrough microplastic filters for washing machines. Washing machine wastewater is the single largest source of microplastic pollution globally, accounting for 35% of emissions.

The company’s technology was recognized by tech bloggers, editors, and reviewers from CNN, Ubergizmo, Gadgety, GEEKSPIN, Guiding Tech, and One Cut Review based on demonstrations of its new internal and external microplastic filtering devices.

CLEANR’s technology represents a significant breakthrough in microplastics filtration. Its design was inspired and adapted from the process that enables manta-rays and basking sharks to filter their food without clogging their gills.

Instead of attracting microplastic particles to the filter surface, CLEANR’s technology creates fluid patterns that form a vortex, which suspends and isolates them. This concentrates the plastics into a narrow stream, which empties into a biodegradable capture unit for disposal. The process is over 300% more efficient than traditional sieve and crossflow filters.

“The recognition we’ve received from reviewers at IFA is hugely encouraging,” said Max Pennington, CEO of CLEANR. “We believe microplastic pollution can be solved in our lifetimes, and these awards show the IFA community’s strong support not only for technology innovation but for protecting the environment.”

Performance testing of CLEANR technology designed by washing machine manufacturers that hold nearly 45% of market share in Europe found that it outperformed competing solutions in nearly every test.

“We’re thankful for these awards,” said Terry Moore, executive chairman, CLEANR. “And it’s been a pleasure to participate in IFA to offer appliance makers our insights and learnings about microplastic filtration and helping stop this form of pollution cost effectively.”

The company estimates that widespread adoption of its technology in the EU and U.S. alone would prevent the equivalent of over 280 million plastic bags a year from entering waterways.