Electrical and electronic equipment

ECOBIOSENSOR

ECO-DESIGN OF BIOSENSORS FOR FOOD SAFETY DIAGNOSIS

SIMPLE, COST-EFFICIENT AND PORTABLE DIAGNOSTIC DEVICES BASED ON DISPOSABLE OR SINGLE-USE SYSTEMS are increasingly applied in the food industry as well as in the clinical and veterinary sector. These devices are replacing more tedious and costly traditional methods. The application of materials with a reduced environmental footprint and miniaturisation of analytical devices are promising strategies to reduce the environmental impact caused by the massive use of these devices. BIOLAN, a leading company in analytical technology applied to the food and health sectors, has identifi ed an opportunity to develop a new generation of more sustainable biosensors that contribute to the dematerialisation and increased recyclability of BIOLAN products. TEKNIKER and GRUNVER have also participated in ECOBIOSENSOR: in the development of the measuring equipment, and the life cycle analysis of the current and new solution, respectively.

BIOLAN
OBJECTIVES
  • Eco-design of measuring equipment: miniaturisation of the potentiostat as the measuring equipment through the application of electronic components based on “System on a Chip” (SoC).
  • Eco-design of test strips or biotests: reduce plastic material and apply conductive inks based on aqueous solutions.
  • Validate eco-designs: to confirm the environmental performance of both the measuring equipment and test strips or biotests with respect to previous solutions from a life-cycle approach.
RESULTS
  • Miniaturisation of measuring equipment.
  • Miniaturisation and simplification of biotest strips.
  • Reduced full-life environmental footprint of new products compared to previous products by 21.8%, reaching 76.5% in the manufacturing phase, 59.7% in distribution and 55.7% in end-of-life.
CONCLUSIONS
  • BIOLAN has achieved a portable biosensor ecodesign, which will allow launching diagnostic solutions for the food industry to the market with lower environmental impact.
  • The lessons learned from ECOBIOSENSOR encourage further work on the eco-design of other devices and analysis elements.
  • The use stage is the most significant stage in the life cycle for improving the results of this project.

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