Its use skyrocketed during the pandemic, but very little has been said about its disposal practices.
The use of masks as an element of protection has increased with the pandemic. However, there is little guidance on how to recycle them safely, so if disposal practices are not improved, “an environmental disaster is coming”.
This is what the director of Revolutions Plastics at the University of Portsmouth (United Kingdom), Steve Fletcher, points out in relation to a study led by said center, which indicates that mask waste increased by 9,000% between March and October 2020 .
The findings
The study indicates that during the analyzed period, more than two million pieces of this type of waste were collected in eleven countries, including Spain, Germany, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom.
For their research, the experts relied on the results of two open source databases: “COVID-19 Government Response Tracker” and a garbage collection application called “Litterati.”
Masks take up to 450 years to degrade, a new danger to marine life
The research published by Nature Sustainability also shows a direct relationship between national legislation and the appearance of residues that included masks and other personal protective equipment, such as gloves, related to COVID-19.
Using these databases, they were able to map the political responses of the countries (severity of confinements, policies on the use of masks) and obtain a line of the proportions of use of these products from September 2019 to the first six months of the year. pandemic.
Recommendations for using the mask safely
The study indicates that between March and May of last year, when the most severe confinements occurred, the dumping of masks was scarce, but it increased.
Between June and October, when the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the use of masks to facilitate social interaction and confinements were relaxed, the proliferation of these items “increased dramatically.”
“An environmental disaster is looming”
For his part, Fletcher noted that “despite millions of people being told to wear masks, little guidance has been given on how to safely dispose of or recycle them. If disposal practices are not improved, an environmental disaster is looming, ”he said.
Most masks are made of long-lasting plastic materials and, when discarded, can persist in the environment for decades or hundreds of years.
The team points out that the uncontrolled presence of masks in the environment can act, in the short term, as a potential viral vector.
In the long term, items disposed of in the environment, if made of plastic, will end up becoming microplastics, with the potential to enter the food chain.
In addition, large animals can suffer complications if they eat or become entangled in them and suffocate smaller organisms and plant life.
Roberts indicated that it is necessary to avoid that “this pandemic garbage becomes a lasting legacy” and considered that the new policies should have a well-structured advice and, above all, with infrastructures that help eliminate waste. (I)
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