SPAIN/INTERNATIONAL. Spanish company UCE Machines has developed CleanBox, a machine to treat airport security trays and other surfaces, and can also clean duty free baskets. The company claims the treatment eliminates traces of bacteria and viruses such as COVID-19, providing lasting protection.
CleanBox was developed in response to a 2016 study conducted by experts from the University of Nottingham and the Finnish Institute of Health at Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport, which revealed that the highest contamination of key respiratory viruses were found on the surfaces of plastic security trays.
Following a successful six-month trial at Valencia Airport, the globally patented machine is now ready to be launched into the wider airport market, with machines currently in production.
The machines are certified to give 99.99% bacterial protection on airport security trays for up to 72 hours, after a 40-second cleaning cycle.
CleanBox is designed to effectively eliminate pathogenic micro-organisms found on plastic surfaces, while also being environmentally-friendly by minimising the use of water and electricity.
It can also be applied to the disinfection and protection of the shopping baskets used in duty free stores, airline staff canteen trays and for different sizes of security trays. The main machine is used for all of these adaptations, using different tray holder assemblies.
A UCE spokesperson said: “By utilising our colour-coded tray rotation system any airport can give their customers 24 hours, 365 days a year confidence that the trays they use at the airport are fully protected against the likes of COVID-19.”
To develop CleanBox, UCE worked in partnership with the multinational Betelgeux, which made the specific antibacterial and disinfectant products for the machine.
