Since the COVID-19 pandemic, home testing kits, or lateral flow tests have become omnipresent. Although it is vital to prevention efforts, lateral flow tests deliver an unwelcome side effect: plastic pollution. The test kits are too small to be sorted by recycling facilities and are often contaminated by samples.
PA consulting have developed a solution and brought together a collective of experts to design and test an alternative to plastic diagnostic test cassettes. They have created platform for the product to be scaled into lower and middle-income countries where diagnostic kits are important in the fight against diseases such as Malaria and HIV. Beyond reducing plastic pollution, the long-term goal is to use local agricultural waste fibers – that would otherwise be disposed of – in medical testing, effectively upcycling fiber waste. Utilising this waste can provide socio-economic benefits by creating jobs and manufacturing hubs, whilst enabling the distribution of medical devices to where they are most needed.
More information on this product can be found here.
