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Dirty masks and gloves: How an initiative helps reduce pandemic waste
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Pandemic waste: The increased use of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks, can negatively impact the environment. (Christian Lue/Unsplash) (Unsplash/Christian Lue)
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em>Amid the uncertainty of waste handling during the pandemic, researchers offer a solution by designing a specific waste management system.
Face masks and gloves have been essential to protect people from COVID-19 transmission. However, the increased use of personal protective equipment (PPE) can negatively impact the environment. A study entitled “COVID-19 Pandemic Repercussions on the Use and Management of Plastics” suggests that around 129 billion face masks and 65 billion gloves are used globally every month.
Growing awareness of this problem motivated researchers from various higher institutions to develop a research proposal on building a PPE waste management system. The proposal was accepted early this year and will be funded by the Indonesian Collaborative Research Program (PPKI) until 2023.
The researchers named their project Drop Box Used Mask (Dumask), since it includes placing boxes at certain locations to dispose of masks and gloves.
Chandra Wahyu Purnomo, a lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Yogyakarta and the coordinator of the project said he was inspired by real problems faced by people on a daily basis.
“Oftentimes, we see used masks scattered on the road when we spend time outside. That’s why we conducted research on how to dispose of them properly without contaminating the environment,” the 41-year-old told The Jakarta Post on Sept 16.
The project started in April 2021 with the making of boxes, which were then placed in several spots to facilitate easy and safe disposal. When the boxes are full, the field officer removes and changes them. Afterward, the waste is processed using the pyrolysis method (thermal decomposition of materials at elevated temperatures).
