Deconstructing Devices at POCT for Scot

Point-of-care tests (POCTs) are designed for rapid, decentralised diagnostics. They require no specialised laboratory infrastructure, and their ease of use has driven widespread adoption across healthcare systems. Yet this convenience comes with a significant environmental cost. As recent research highlights, POCTs generate substantial volumes of plastic waste and embed resource-intensive materials into everyday clinical practice (Street et al., 2022; Wöhrle et al., 2025). 

Invited by organisers to host a sustainability stand at the conference, Millie Marriott Webb, supported by Alice Street and Maiwenn Kersaudy-Kerhoas, curated and ran a small, mobile version of our Deconstructing Devices lab - a collaborative After the Single Use × Diagnostic Discard initiative. From a simple conference stall equipped with basic tools and visual materials, we opened test cassettes, examined their components, and began conversations with exhibitors, manufacturers, and laboratory staff about what lies inside these devices and what happens to them after use.

These discussions revealed striking patterns. Many POCTs - designed for near-patient settings - are routinely used in laboratories, where staff often discard over half of the components included in commercial test kits. High-grade plastics and unused parts move directly to the waste stream, yet laboratories cannot purchase smaller, component-specific kits. Conversations also turned to the growing role of digital readers in shaping test design, often reinforcing the need for plastic housings. Several manufacturers noted new sustainability requirements emerging from NHS Scotland’s Net Zero strategy and the pressures these place on production and procurement practices.

For many attendees, the environmental harms associated with the long afterlives of single use plastics were new information. Our stand quickly became a collection point for POCT samples from companies eager to understand the materials in their devices and explore more sustainable alternatives. The openness of these exchanges underscored how valuable these encounters can be.

Events like this provide space to think critically and collaboratively about the infrastructures that underpin diagnostic innovation. They allow us to question assumptions, share frustrations, and explore possibilities for redesign. They also remind us of a crucial lesson:

“When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure” (Mattson et al., 2021).

We are grateful to the organisers for facilitating such a thoughtful and engaging event, and to the POCT companies who generously shared device samples for ongoing research.