00:00 Some of these single-use medical tests, called lateral flow tests, were created with discarded
00:07 chewing gum. Researchers in Scotland are turning to the chewy treat and other recycled materials
00:14 in hopes of making a dent in a huge plastic waste problem.
00:19 Every year, billions of lateral flow tests, or LFTs, are used globally to test for illnesses
00:26 like COVID and malaria, and also for conditions like pregnancy.
00:32 Not only are they simply thrown away after a single use, but they're also made of virgin
00:37 plastic material.
00:39 What we're asking here is, do they have to be made out of virgin plastic? Could we remove
00:44 the carbon footprint of the virgin plastic production in this specific use case?
00:51 Roughly 18,000 tons of plastics are produced for rapid LFT testing every year, with an
00:57 average test containing up to 15 grams of single-use virgin plastic.
01:03 That's according to Maywin Kersaudy-Kerhois, a researcher and professor at Scotland's
01:08 Heriot-Watt University.
01:11 In partnership with the firm Great Central Plastics, her research team has produced five
01:16 prototype devices made from a range of recycled materials, including chewing gum.
01:22 What we're hoping is that through the use of these cassettes, we can promote a debate
01:27 on the regulations, on the economics, on the customer acceptance of these new materials,
01:34 and ultimately save 30 to 50 percent of the carbon footprint of the virgin material production.
01:41 Currently, very few plastics used in medical testing are recycled because of issues due
01:47 to sorting and potential contamination. So, most are incinerated or sent to a landfill.
01:55 Alice Street, a professor at the University of Edinburgh, says it's an urgent issue to
02:00 address.
02:01 Really, this is the challenge of modern healthcare, that in order to save lives and improve health,
02:07 we are producing huge numbers of single-use plastic devices. But those same devices are
02:13 also contributing to a growing burden of plastic pollution globally. We need not only healthcare
02:19 systems that will contribute to growth and to health, we also need healthcare systems
02:25 that are themselves healthy.
02:28 Kiron Phillips of Great Central Plastics says the team has the machinery and knowledge to
02:35 shift the industry's mindset.
02:38 There are many professionals within the UK that would be able to embark on this challenge
02:42 and move into a more sustainable option on products like this.
02:46 As well as used chewing gum, the team has also developed LFTs using four other sustainably
02:52 derived plastics, such as old fridge parts. They now have approval to test their prototypes
02:58 to make sure they function just as well as existing LFTs.
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