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The Bettii Pod Ltd – Revolutionising Menstrual Care 

Background

The Bettii Pod Ltd, founded in 2021 by CEO Elaine Galston, is a start-up dedicated to normalising and destigmatising periods while promoting sustainable menstrual practices and enabling access to the testing of menstrual blood for key female focused health concerns. Focused on creating an away-from-home infrastructure for the management of reusable sanitary wear, the company aims to address challenges faced by users of reusable menstrual products, specifically the lack of facilities for cleaning and sanitising menstrual cups and discs in away-from-home environments.

1.8 billion people have periods, leading to 100 billion soiled single use period products being disposed of every year. These products are over 90% plastic and take over 500 years to decompose.  The planet cannot support this. Reusables is the largest growth sector in the menstrual market with an estimated 64 million menstrual cups sold per annum with a 56% growth prediction. 

The Challenge

The primary challenge being addressed by The Bettii Pod Ltd relates to the absence of convenient facilities for cleaning reusable menstrual cups in public spaces, an issue deemed such an obstacle that it was raised by the UN in a 2021 report which implored governments across the world to consider how to enable access to water within female toilets for menstrual cup cleaning. This obstacle, together with the lack of awareness and understanding of menstrual reusables, hinders the widespread adoption of sustainable menstrual products, affecting issues such as period poverty, environmental sustainability and at-home health testing adoption.

Currently menstrual cup users either do not clean their cup or use bottled water and/or disposable wipes which is not good for health, for the environment or practical. Over 23% drop their cup down the toilet or on the floor. The intended purpose of the Bettii product is to support sustainable menstrual practices, enabling eco-friendly menstrual product adoption and mitigating health concerns related to inadequate washing facilities. This gives potential users confidence to adopt cost saving reusables thereby helping eradicate period poverty and enabling access to the market for at-home testing of menstrual blood for key health concerns. 

The company’s innovative solution was to develop an installable menstrual cup washer and sanitiser within toilet cubicles of various public locations, such as offices, gyms, cinemas, stadiums, airports, tourist attractions and other public infrastructures.

The Solution

Interface introduced The Bettii Pod Ltd, together with their designers Fearsome Ltd, to West College Scotland and with the help of Innovation Voucher Funding, the project to develop the world’s first menstrual cup washer and sanitiser for away-from-home environments was born. The collaboration involved extensive research, design, review of key, potentially limiting regulations, and the creation of a lab-based prototype.

The project looked at designing an installable sanitary washer, identifying related infrastructure requirements, and developing installation training. The outcome of the initial phase is the process design of a sanitary menstrual cup washer with the potential for global installation. 

The partnership utilised the technical expertise of the College and active engagement from Bettii Pod’s product development team to design a prototype and toolkit, laying the foundation for commercial viability. The academic team’s support filled crucial gaps in electrical and plumbing expertise, providing insights into design alterations’ impact on sustainability and compliance with standards. This collaborative effort ensures the product’s alignment with industry standards and efficient installation requirements. 

The support from the technical academic staff became invaluable providing crucial insights into the entire design process, from the conceptual stage to compliance and manufacturing. Their expertise was particularly beneficial in assessing how design alterations could positively impact sustainability, with a specific focus on Ingress Protection (IP) which determines the different degrees of protection of the enclosures of electrical and electronic equipment against external elements, IK rating which is defined in international standards and indicates a product’s resistance to mechanical impact, and Water Regulations Approval Scheme (WRAS) compliance.  

This unique contribution filled a critical gap in Bettii Pod’s capabilities, ensuring that the product design would meet the necessary standards and considerations for long-term success. The academic team’s input was instrumental in addressing challenges that could not be sourced elsewhere or managed internally, highlighting the pivotal role they played in the development of the project. 

The lab prototype was developed, eradicating key operational and installation barriers giving the Company much needed assurance as to the commercial applicability of their innovation.

This product boasts a pioneering design that sets it apart as the first of its kind, addressing a critical gap in the market with no comparable alternatives currently available. Full market analysis and proof of concept have now been completed. The lab-based prototype is finalised with patents to be registered in early 2025. 

The collaboration between The Bettii Pod Ltd and West College Scotland represents a ground-breaking effort to revolutionize menstrual care, promote sustainability, and address societal period, reusables and health challenges. By combining industry expertise with academic insights, the partnership has created a pioneering product with significant potential for societal and environmental impact. Ongoing collaboration will ensure a successful development and integration of the product into the market, emphasizing a commitment to innovation, standards compliance, and mutual success.

The Bettii Pod Ltd and West College Scotland continue to work together to develop and introduce the product to the marketplace.

The Benefits

Background

James Frew Ltd is one of the largest privately owned building services companies in Scotland providing integrated building services, including plumbing, heating, mechanical services, micro-renewables, gas maintenance, and property upgrades for the public and private sectors, including design installation and maintenance.

The company operates from their headquarters in Stevenson, Ayrshire, covering all areas of Scotland.

Challenge

James Frew believes the strength of the company is in its people and is committed to the training, health and safety of its employees.

Over half of the total workforce consists of fully qualified gas engineers who are each required to be certified; often multiple certifications per employee are required to practice.  The certification process requires each gas operative to undergo training and assessment of a core gas safety qualification in addition to various specialism qualifications relating to the nature of the work being undertaken.  These qualifications must be refreshed every five years and, in almost all cases, are not synchronised which leads to difficulties in the training schedule, increased training costs, and workforce planning issues through lost time and lack of continuity. 

For a business such as James Frew Ltd and its employees, compliance in this field is paramount and non-compliance threatens jobs and the security of the business.

Solution

Academic input was required as the project involved a strong focus on developing pedagogy for identifying training needs and linking these requirements to business process improvement; in particular, in bringing into the industry context tools that have been developed and are widely used in education but can be further developed to meet the needs of the business.

The company was awarded a Scottish Funding Council (SFC) Innovation Voucher, administered by Interface, which gave it the opportunity to collaborate with West College Scotland to develop a new innovative training planning process, including the monitoring of certification renewals, development of individual training plans and the measurement of the impact of training through AMI (Achievement Measurement Indexing). 

“We are delighted to work with West College Scotland on the Scottish Funding Council Innovation Voucher and it has helped us align training plans and enhance our service offer”.  Roddy Frew, Managing Director.

“The SFC Innovation Voucher has allowed James Frew and WCS to positively collaborate to implement business improvements and develop more meaningful relationships that are mutually beneficial. In doing so, our staff at the college have been able to use this knowledge to work with other organisations to help them improve and enhance the products and services that they offer”.  Andrew Fogarty, Head of Energy and Engineering, West College Scotland

Dr Stuart Fancey, director of research and innovation at the Scottish Funding Council, said:

“The Innovation Voucher Scheme has been a huge success, linking hundreds of Scottish small businesses with universities’ expertise. Entrepreneurs growing their businesses have been able to develop their products in ways they would have struggled to do by themselves and I’m excited that this expertise now includes Scotland’s colleges as well as universities.”

Benefits

Company – Through reduced costs and improved quality of training, this new process will provide business efficiency savings ensuring that James Frew Ltd continues to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage in a fast-moving commercial market.  By enabling a more structured approach to developing people through training, the project will also impact on the motivation of staff and employee satisfaction.

College – West College Scotland will improve their service delivery in gas engineering and develop a greater understanding of the training needs analysis for the building services sector as a result of the collaboration. The project will also enhance understanding of industry within the College and support the development of processes that will make the College more responsive to business needs.

Impacts

The project developed a process that identifies the need for early training interventions, determine more specifically exact training requirements and demonstrate measurable achievement in knowledge transfer.

The impact of the project will lead to improved training interventions that are linked to individual training plans and business process improvements.  In terms of outcomes and impact, it is envisaged that whilst improving the relevance of training interventions, significant cost savings and improved efficiency will be realised through a more planned and systematic approach to training.

By developing a more structured approach to developing people through training, the project will impact on the motivation of key staff and will increase employee satisfaction.

Please note that Interface administers the Innovation Voucher Scheme on behalf of the Scottish Funding Council. All funding applications are reviewed on a case by case basis by the Scottish Funding Council, guidelines can be found here.