Ways to reuse and recycle masks
There are numerous solutions on how to handle this problem. Portal Medical Expo informs about a couple of them.
Waste management company Terra Cycle came with an interesting and quite simple solution, Zero Waste Boxes, which are designed to collect and recycle PPE, face masks, and disposable gloves. After collection of the waste, it is sorted into categories based on material characteristics. These materials are furthermore recycled into materials that can be used to create new products like outdoor furniture and storage containers.
French startup Plaxtil informs that they were able to recycle 100 000 masks into a solution for surgical, fabric, and FFP2 masks.
Co-founder Olivier Civil said:
“We have set up 50 collection points in pharmacies, shops, or shopping centers. We remove the metal bar from the masks and grind them; the crushed masks are then passed through a UV tunnel to be completely decontaminated in depth. Then, we transform these shreds into PLAXTIL material to be injected into an injection press to obtain objects of protection against Covid-19: mask fasteners, door openers, protective visors, etc.”
More sustainable types of masks are being considered as well, with options varying from Organic, biodegradable to cotton, linen, bamboo, silk, and hemp variations.
Australian Queensland University of Technology (QUT) had an idea to create biodegradable, anti-pollution masks. Now they think they could also develop protection against COVID-19 in a form of breathable nanocellulose material that removes particles smaller than 100 nanometers made from waste plant material, such as sugar cane bagasse.
At the EssentialTech Center of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, researchers have created The HelloMask which is made from a polymer composition, currently in the process of being patented, which is 99% organic, biomass derivative. Thierry Pelet, Ph.D., Project Leader, said:
“With the COVID-19 crisis and the huge mask consumption by the general public, this is becoming an environmental problem.”
The HelloMask is transparent and breathable, as well as biodegradable and recyclable. It is designed to reveal facial expressions, as well as to filter out viruses and bacteria.
