A British design duo have created an eco-friendly hand sanitiser dispenser after noting that sustainability had “gone out the window” during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Eli Heath and Pete Barr, both 25, have raised over £36,000 to create and market the product through crowdfunding website Kickstarter.

Mr Heath, from Brighton, said the product was thought up after the news that up to 10 million empty hand sanitiser and liquid soap bottles used during the pandemic are likely to end up in landfill sites in the UK.

“We noticed sustainability had gone out the window – the UK alone has 10 million sanitiser bottles heading to landfill – and we also noticed a lot of people not washing their hands adequately,” he said.

The refillable dispenser is rubbed like a bar of soap, sanitising the aluminium casing as well as the hands.

The duo also created their own alcohol gel to refill the product with, sold in recyclable bottles.

Mr Heath said they wanted to create a product that “makes people excited to sanitise their hands”.

Mr Heath and Mr Barr, from London, studied product design together and previously made accessible art tools for people with physical disabilities.

The duo’s previous invention is a tool that can be attached to a wheelchair to allow people to create large-scale drawings and paintings.

To see the product’s Kickstarter page, visit: www.kickstarter.com/projects/soapstone/sustainable-portable-hand-sanitising