Covid-19 Lateral Flow Tests Can Now Be Recycled In The UK, Thanks To ReWorked

Rapid Covid-19 tests can now be recycled into children’s chairs, outdoor furniture, shop-fitting materials, and even PPE collection bins, – thanks to the innovative recycling business, ReWorked.

Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic has led to floods of new plastic waste streams (disposable facemasks, gloves, and visors, etc). With scientists now predicting that there are more facemasks in the ocean than jellyfish, the problem has clearly gotten out of control.

In response to this issue, UK-based recycling business, ReWorked – has decided to step in, to slow down (and hopefully stop) this issue, by becoming the first organisation to offer a viable solution, – by providing innovative recycling processes for these lateral flow tests. The service is available to schools, workplaces, and individuals using large amounts of tests considered to be non-clinical. 

In their campaign hailed #ReclaimTheTest, ReWorked is selling PPE recycling boxes (which were initially designed to collect single-use facemasks, gloves, and visors), – that can now be used to collect rapid tests, too.

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Lateral flow testing kits are typically made using a variety of plastic elements by kerbside recycling services. Using innovative processing, the rapid tests and PPE waste collected by ReWorked, – will be pressed into 100% recycled plastic boards. These boards are then made into bins, children’s chairs, outdoor furniture, and building materials.

Izzie Glazzard, from 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.

Find out more here: www.reworked.com