New recycling process for mobility and access sector to dispose of PPE and rapid tests
An innovative recycling initiative launched by UK-based firm ReWorked is helping mobility and access firms to dispose of rapid COVID-19 tests and PPE waste in a more environmentally-friendly way.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been responsible for floods of new plastic waste streams, with the prevalence of disposable face masks, gloves and visors, according to the recycling firm.
The available of twice-weekly rapid testing to the general public has presented a whole new plastic waste issue.
A report by the British Medical Journal found that 384 million kits ordered by the UK government are currently going to landfill or being incinerated, with scientists also predicting that there are now more face masks in the ocean than jellyfish.
UK based recycling business ReWorked claim to be the first firm to offer a solution to this issue – by providing innovative recycling processing for these lateral flow tests.
The service is available to workplaces, as well as schools and individuals using large amounts of the tests considered non-clinical.
In a campaign hailed #ReclaimTheTest, ReWorked sell PPE recycling boxes which are designed to collect single-use facemasks, gloves, visors and now rapid tests.
Using innovative processing, the rapid tests and PPE waste collected by ReWorked are pressed into 100 per cent recycled plastic boards.
These boards are made into bins, children’s chairs, outdoor furniture and building materials.
Izzie Glazzard, Marketing Manager at ReWorked, said, “PPE recycling has been a focus for us over the past year, after seeing large amounts of discarded masks on the sides of the road and in the environment.
“With the Government increasing the number of rapid tests available to the public, this poses a whole new plastic issue we wanted to tackle.”
