CAPTURION Reduces Tire Wear – Pilot Confirms Effectiveness of Filtration Principle

In Frederiksberg Allé, located in the Frederiksberg district of Copenhagen (Denmark), a filtration system based on GKD’s CAPTURION was tested over several months in a pilot project. The results are now available.

The project was initiated by Danish green-tech company BAIONYX, dedicated to minimizing the environmental impact of road traffic. The initiative was carried out in cooperation with the Technical University (TU) Berlin and the URBANFILTER Sustainability Hub and funded by the Audi Environmental Foundation.

On average, approximately 7,700 vehicles passed the test section of Frederiksberg Allé per day. During the 127-day monitoring period, 121 millimeters of precipitation were recorded. As part of the pilot project, existing street drains were retrofitted with a CAPTURION-based filtration system adapted to Danish infrastructure. Similar to conventional leaf baskets, the module simply needs to be hooked in – no civil engineering required. The CAPTURION particle filter consists of stainless-steel mesh with a defined pore structure. An emergency overflow ensures drainage under high hydraulic loads. Municipal services can maintain these upgraded street drains during routine cleaning without significant additional effort.

127% More Microplastic Retention Compared to Reference Shaft

A comparison between a filtered shaft and a reference shaft revealed a significantly higher retention of suspended solids (AFS). The filtered shaft retained 129% more AFS across all fractions. Researchers from TU Berlin’s Urban Water Management department quantified tire wear using the polymer marker styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), a synthetic rubber widely used in tires, seals, and technical rubber products due to its abrasion resistance and elasticity. The result: 127% more SBR mass in the filtered shaft, particularly in particle fractions between 6 and 250 micrometers relevant to road runoff. To date, no overloads or functional failures have occurred.

Quote from Daniel Venghaus, Project Participant and Key Market Manager Water Filtration & Separation at GKD:
“The key is practical applicability: CAPTURION can be integrated into existing drains without civil engineering and demonstrated significantly higher retention of solids and SBR in real-world operation. This makes the system a relevant building block for reducing microplastics from tire wear at the point of entry in the future.”

Confirmed Suitability and Initial Pilot Projects in Germany

As the pilot project demonstrates, municipalities can significantly reduce microplastic inputs from road traffic before they enter sewer systems and water bodies by deploying CAPTURION. Retrofitting existing networks is straightforward, and operation integrates seamlessly into established maintenance routines. CAPTURION enables municipalities to achieve significantly higher retention rates at all street drains with sludge traps according to DIN 4052. Previous tests have shown that deployment at hotspots is most effective: intersections, traffic lights, and curves where tire wear is particularly high.

GKD has also assessed CAPTURION’s cleaning potential for Germany at the test stand in accordance with the approval procedure of the German Institute for Building Technology (DIBt). The criteria defined by DIBt (AFS retention ≥ 92.0%) and NRW-Trennerlass (AFS63 > 50%) are met according to the report. According to DWA 102, the filtration system is suitable for load categories I, II, and III. Furthermore, an initial practical deployment is underway in Düren (NRW) with four CAPTURION systems installed in standard shafts with sludge traps. Another project in a German city will commence in 2026 and will be announced shortly.

InfraTech 2026, Infrastructure Trade Fair, January 13–15, 2026, Messe Essen
GKD invites industry professionals to engage in dialogue. CAPTURION will be on display at the GKD booth.
Daniel Venghaus, Key Market Manager Water Filtration & Separation at GKD, will participate in the panel discussion on Thursday, January 15, 2026, at 10:15 a.m.: “Blue Solutions for Future Cities.”
https://www.infratech.de

About CAPTURION (Short Profile)
CAPTURION is a year-round filtration system from GKD designed for use in street gully shafts. It filters solids from road runoff water, offers high absorption capacity, and integrates into existing maintenance routines without significant additional effort. The system is suitable for new construction projects and numerous existing drainage systems and operates reliably as a particle filter.
The filtration system was developed by GKD. Insights from prototype modules with GKD mesh provided in the URBANFILTER project were incorporated into the development process. The project was funded by the Audi Environmental Foundation and carried out by TU Berlin.