Over the summer we wrote about the Israeli inventor who created the first cardboard bicycle; a project many experts had considered impossible.

Well, Izhar Gafni and Nimrod Elmish of  I.G. Cardboard are expanding on their first venture and  developing  cardboard wheelchairs!

The wheelchair will be able to withstand water and humidity. It weighs about 9 kg, supports a 180 kg load,  and can be made with less than $10 worth of materials.  How?  They plan to use a combination of durable recycled cardboard, plastic bottles and recycled tyres.

The idea was brought to them by an international NGO which provides free wheelchairs to disabled people in developing countries.  This NGO is currently spending $6 million each year to bring 120,000 metal wheelchairs from China to Africa.  In an interview with ISRAEL21c, Elmish said “It will cost him a one-time fee of $6 million to build a factory for the production of cardboard wheelchairs in Africa and then almost nothing to produce them.”

This is exciting news and Corrugated of Course cannot wait to see the first wheelchair!  You can read the full story on ISRAEL21c.