CLEANING THE STREETS

As well as pioneering EV development, Audi is trying to prevent harmful materials entering our ecosystems and “filter out microplastics where they’re created”.

In collaboration with the University of Berlin, the car maker is developing filters for streets, drains and sewers to stop tyre and road particles from entering soil, rivers and the ocean.

It says around 110,000 metric tonnes of the stuff ends up on the streets of Germany alone each year.

“Our goal is to take preventative actions wherever possible,” said environmental foundation director Rüdiger Recknagel.

The filters also capture cleaning waste, cigarette filters, wrappers and other plastic granules measuring up to 3mm in size.