Timely device

IFA 2023, Europe’s largest home appliances trade show, attracts the likes of Whirlpool, LG, Samsung and General Electric. This year, it also drew the young co-founders of CLEANR, a Case-connected startup that we reported on in our Winter 2023 issue.

Led by CEO Max Pennington ’22, CLEANR has developed a device that filters microplastics from washing machine wastewater. In Berlin in September, its product won four Best of IFA awards, drawing the attention of media outlets as diverse as CNN and Laundry and Cleaning News.

“Sustainability was a big theme at IFA 23,” CNN reported. “One trend that caught our eye was filtering microplastics from washing machine water — which is the single largest source of microplastic pollution globally.” The story described CLEANR’s patented filtration system as clever and effective, concluding, “Here’s hoping washing machines in the future will have these filtration systems pre-installed to ensure widespread use.”

Sustainable Plastics dove more deeply into the product design.

“CLEANR’s Vortx technology was inspired by a filtering process that occurs in marine life,” it reported. “Instead of attracting particles to the filter surface, it works by suspending and isolating them using fluid patterns that form a vortex.”

The particles are pushed into a removable pod and, voila, the world is a little less polluted.

The press reports noted that governments in Europe and North America are moving to require that new washing machines be outfitted with microplastic filters, and that France has already passed such legislation.

“The recognition we’ve received from reviewers at IFA is hugely encouraging,” Pennington said. In addition to Pennington, CLEANR co-founders include David Dillman and Chip Miller, fourth-year students at the Case School of Engineering. The company also employs many Case students in its workspace in Sears think[box], where it was founded.