For years, the conversation around sustainability in hospitality and soft FM has been dominated by visible issues: plastic bottles, food waste, energy consumption, recycling, and water use. But beneath the surface—quite literally—runs an often-overlooked threat: microplastic pollution emerging from commercial laundry operations. This pollution is silent, invisible to the naked eye, and yet, immeasurably harmful to marine life, ecosystems, and ultimately, human health.

Today, commercial laundries located in hotels, resorts, hospitals, and industrial facilities have become an unexpected frontline in the global fight against microplastics. And yet, awareness and corrective action remain alarmingly limited in many regions, including the Middle East.

Two industry voices—Gary Teeley, CEO, Neat, and Abdul Samad, Laundry Division Manager, Reza Hygiene—shine a spotlight on this problem, urging operators, hoteliers, and regulators to take responsibility before the issue becomes unmanageable.

A Growing Invisible Pollutant

Microplastics—plastic fragments less than 5 mm in size—are increasingly recognized as one of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. While many associate microplastic pollution with broken-down bottles, shopping bags, or degraded marine waste, one of the largest contributors comes from something that feels completely harmless: washing textiles.

As Abdul Samad explains, “The plastic pollution is not just with plastic bottles, bags but one of the largest and most unnoticed sources of microplastic—small plastic fragments less than five mm—[are] found not in a landfill, but quietly going down our drains with every load of laundry process and every laundry operation.”

Every time synthetic fabric is washed, millions of microfibers detach and flow into wastewater streams. These fibers do not break down; they accumulate. They slip past conventional wastewater treatment systems and flow into rivers, oceans, and water bodies. Marine animals ingest them. They infiltrate food chains. They return to us through seafood, drinking water, and even the air we breathe.

Industrial and commercial laundry facilities, which process high volumes of synthetic textiles, amplify this impact exponentially.

The Hospitality Industry’s Microplastic Footprint

Hotels and commercial laundries process thousands of kilograms of textiles daily. Uniforms, guest clothing, staff garments, towels, and linens—many of them made of synthetic fibers—shed plastic at every wash cycle.

This reality is what prompted Gary Teeley to challenge the industry with a powerful question:
“‘Microplastics in the Textiles Industry’, which box are you going to tick? Box ‘A’ – Let us understand the subject, subscribe to managing and adopting methods to reduce the risks in our facilities or Box ‘B’ – Choose another option?”

He adds, with pointed honesty:
“Let’s be honest, within Hospitality, we are all used to seeing marketing words like ‘Sustainability’, ‘Environmentally Friendly’. The term ‘Microplastics’ is deemed to be an integral part of those said subjects, but why is the white elephant in the room not being correctly dealt with?”

Despite hospitality’s sustainability commitments, microplastics remain a compliance blind spot. Operators rarely evaluate microfiber release during procurement decisions. Filtration and detention technologies are inconsistently applied. And because the pollution is invisible, its urgency often gets deprioritized in favour of more tangible environmental KPIs.

How Microplastics Are Generated During Laundry Processes

Textiles consist of fibers. Natural fibers such as cotton, wool, and linen biodegrade over time. Synthetic fibers—including polyester, acrylic, nylon, spandex, and Aramid fibers like Nomex—do not. When exposed to mechanical agitation, water, detergents, and thermal variations, they shed microfibers.

Gary Teeley explains this process simply:
“So how does this all work? Fabrics are made from fibers, some of these are man-made plastic fibers. When cleaned in a wash process, these synthetic fibers are released from fabrics through the different factors of mechanical action.”

In industrial laundry environments, this shedding effect is intensified. Machines are larger. Mechanical action is stronger. Wash cycles run more frequently. Temperatures are higher. Detergents are more potent. Without intervention, millions of fibers enter the wastewater stream daily.

This leads to microplastics entering freshwater ecosystems, where, as Teeley notes, “wildlife ingests, creating harm. Such transformations can bioaccumulate in the tissues of animals and move up the food chain to humans.”

Regulations Are Coming—But Not Fast Enough

Some countries have taken bold steps to address microfiber pollution. France has led the charge:
“In France, by law, all domestic washing machines sold from January 1st 2025 are fitted with a filter to collect macrofibres,” Teeley notes. “Other European countries, the US and Australia are committed to follow.”

This regulatory momentum demonstrates that microplastic filtration is both technologically feasible and publicly mandated.

In contrast, the GCC region is still in development.
“Arabian Gulf countries are signatories to the Regional Organization for the Protection of Marine Environment (ROPME) and have ratified international conventions such as MARPOL 73/78 Annex V,” says Teeley. “But in general the GCC region is at a developing stage with microplastics.”

The Gulf’s ambitions for sustainable tourism, circular economy systems, and net-zero transitions cannot be realized without addressing microfiber pollution at the operational level.

The Commercial Laundry Dilemma: High Volume, High Impact

Commercial laundries process high textile volumes quickly—an operational reality that directly increases microfiber release.

Abdul Samad explains:
“The aggressive mechanical action, higher temperatures, and frequent, large-scale processing inherent to industrial laundering drastically accelerate the shedding of plastic microfibers.”

But the issue runs deeper.

Hotels often purchase uniforms and textiles that fall into the “fast fashion” category—lower-cost synthetic garments with shorter lifespans. These release most of their fibers early in their life cycle.

Gary Teeley highlights this hidden connection:
“The majority of volume that commercial laundries process is from hotels… staff uniforms purchased is similar to modern fast fashion clothing (does not last long and the early life of the fabric releases most of the fibers causing greater release).”

Additionally, low par stock levels force faster turnaround times, increasing wash frequency and mechanical stress.

This results in a perfect storm: low-cost synthetics, high-intensity washing, and inadequate filtration—all contributing to escalating wastewater pollution.

Why Microfiber Filters Must Become Standard

Given that many hotels and commercial laundries in the region still operate domestic-style washers for guest clothing, uniforms, and dry-clean-type loads, Teeley asks the critical question:

“If these items are placed in washing machines which have a capacity between 5–30 kgs, why can we not install a microfiber filter before the water goes to the main sewer? If France can do this, why can’t we in the GCC?”

Microfiber filters are affordable, accessible, and effective. They do not disrupt workflow. They do not require major infrastructure overhauls. Yet their adoption remains rare.

This gap represents a major opportunity for the region to lead in sustainable textile care—not just in rhetoric, but in practice.

Reducing Microfiber Release: Practical, Actionable Steps

Both industry experts emphasize that microfiber pollution is not inevitable. It is manageable—if operators take proactive steps.

Gary Teeley’s Reduction Recommendations

Teeley provides a series of operational adjustments that significantly reduce microfiber shedding:

• Low-temperature washing, not high
  
  
• Use of net bags for delicate synthetics
  
  
• Natural drying solutions, like tunnel finishers, instead of tumble dryers
  
  
• Shorter wash processes
  
  
• Correct load sizes, avoiding under-loading
  
  
• Eco-friendly chemicals with minimal dosing
  
  

Operational habits matter. These simple adjustments can drastically reduce shedding.

Abdul Samad’s Operational Advice

Samad offers complementary best practices drawn from process optimization:

• Properly load machines: underloading increases friction
  
  
• Design wash programs carefully, including cold-water prewashes
  
  
• Use temperature only as required
  
  
• Minimize mechanical action where possible
  
  
• Avoid overdosing detergents, which “increases microfiber release.”
  
  

He also stresses the importance of material selection:
“Choose materials like linen, cotton… unlike plastic microfibers which persist in the environment.”

The cleaner the input, the cleaner the output.

Procurement: The Often-Ignored Root Cause

Commercial laundries cannot fix this problem alone. Hotels must participate in responsible procurement, choosing durable fabrics with higher natural fiber composition.

Teeley emphasizes this point:
“Commercial laundries would be able to collectively help reduce the risk if hoteliers would embrace awareness for decisions on what and how they buy garments and linens.”

The cheapest uniform often ends up being the most expensive—for the planet.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Microplastic pollution is not a distant hazard. It is here, now, flowing through drains, entering oceans, seeping into ecosystems, and eventually reaching our bodies.

The hospitality industry has both the responsibility and the ability to address this challenge. Solutions exist. Best practices exist. Technology exists. And the environmental fallout of inaction is too great to ignore.

So the question returns to where Gary Teeley began:

“Which box did you tick?”

In truth, only Box A—awareness, accountability, and action—aligns with genuine sustainability leadership.

Commercial laundries and the hospitality sector now stand at a defining moment: continue the status quo, or embrace the practices that will protect our oceans, our environment, and future generations.

The path forward requires collaboration—from regulators, suppliers, hoteliers, laundry managers, and sustainability leaders. Microplastics may be invisible, but the need for action is not.