“Behind the Break” explores fibre fragmentation as environmental pollutants caused by the fashion and textile industries. The research aims to identify the root causes of fibre shedding during manufacturing, enhance existing test methods, and inform future industry best practices and policies to reduce textile pollution. A world-leading report underpins the project, providing an overview of existing knowledge gaps, recent developments, critical insights, and emerging opportunities for meaningful action within a real-world industry context.
In collaboration with:
Problem Statement
Fibre fragment pollution poses a significant threat to ecosystems and human health. Adopting interventions across the whole value chain is critical to reducing the amount of fibre fragments entering the environment. However, a key strategy to address fibre fragmentation at its source lies in better understanding its root causes to drive more responsible textile design and manufacturing. Currently, significant knowledge gaps on root causes persist, along with uncertainty regarding the reliability of test methods used to evaluate the true shedding of different materials.
Project Goals
Advance research on root causes: Confirm or challenge current academic findings and assess the reliability of current testing methods by quantifying and characterising fibre fragments for the selected material archetypes.
Validate test methods and reduce uncertainty: Assess the effectiveness and reliability of various test methods, identify their best use cases, and align towards standardised approaches that enable consistent and reliable data collection.
Strengthening data correlation: Compare results across methods to identify variations, and uncover discrepancies or trends within the data.
Address gaps and drive improvements: Evaluate current methods to pinpoint limitations, address shortcomings, and build upon existing databases to enable upstream design interventions and supply chain improvements.
Inform policy and regulatory efforts: Deliver critical insights to support the development of policies and regulations aimed at addressing fibre fragmentation.
Team
CEO – The Microfibre Consortium
Dr. Kelly Sheridan
Kelly is an Associate Professor in Forensic Science at Northumbria University, she is also CEO of The Microfibre Consortium (TMC). Kelly has specialised in the field of textile fibres for over 17 years, she oversees the "Behind the Break" project, instructing the team on which experiments to run and methods to use.
Research Fellow – Northumbria University
Dr. James D. Creswell
James is a Post Doctoral Research Associate. His role focuses on the using the The Microfibre Consortium Test Method to evaluate fibre shedding gravimetrically. He is also investigating spectroscopic techniques to identify contaminants in fabric samples.
Research Fellow – Northumbria University
Dr. Chimdia Kechi-Okafor
Chimdia is a researcher specialising in Biochemistry and Forensic Science. Her work focuses on using the Under Armour text methods to analyse fibre fragmentation visually. She evaluates fibre loss and grades filter paper according to the levels of microfibres found.
Researcher – The Microfibre Consortium
Elliot Bland
Elliot is a researcher at The Microfibre Consortium, he analyses the Microfibre Data Portal and supports signatories with testing strategies. Elliot’s background in tech research and development and microfibre research enables him to provide expert oversight to the project.
