No microplastics

These synthetic polymers may be small, but they have a nasty effect on the environment. They can be found in shampoo, toothpaste, detergent, liquid soap etc. as tiny solid particles, but also hide in liquid or gel-like forms in dozens of cosmetics, cleaning products and detergents. According to a 2018 Fraunhofer study, approx. 1,000 tonnes of microplastic and 50,000 tonnes of dissolved polymers rush down the drain each year – and that’s just in Germany! The waste water treatment plants are practically powerless. They cannot stop many microplastics at all, and those that they can filter out of the water usually end up back on our fields via sewage sludge.

As a result, mini plastics and water-soluble polymers cause maximum pollution to nature, and nowhere is immune: Plastics have even been found in snow in the Arctic, as well as inside many sea creatures, from mussels to seals. Ultimately, these nasty remnants also end up on our plates when we eat fish.