One of the fundamental goals during the treatment and purification of wastewater is to eliminate the micro-plastic particles present. Now there is a new tool capable of doing this: the laser-perforated micro-plastic filter, the first in the world of its kind.

This is not the first time that laser technology has been used to support the environment and sustainability; however, it is now also applied for the first time to the removal of the most widespread contaminant in the world: plastic.

Using the multibeam process, the laser is split into several beams simultaneously, making a large number of holes on the filter plate in a considerably shorter time than the one required in common laser technology.

More than 59 million very small holes are made, with a diameter of only 10 micrometers each.

The technological innovation, which is the result of several decades of research at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT, comes from the collaboration between the German institute and three companies in the sector.

Since the first experiment, the filter has been very effective: it has been able to clean contaminated water from the dust of 3D printers.

At the moment, experiments are being carried out to verify their effectiveness for the treatment of wastewater in real situations.