COVID-19: Poor Mask Disposal Can Create Environmental Disaster

The use of protective items such as masks has increased with the pandemic, but little guidance has been given on how to recycle them safely, so if disposal practices are not improved, “An environmental disaster is looming”.

This was pointed out by the director of Revolution Plastics at the University of Portsmouth (United Kingdom), Steve Fletcher, commenting on a study led by that center which indicates that mask waste increased by 9,000% between March and October 2020.

The research published by Nature Sustainability also shows a direct relationship between national legislation and the appearance of waste that included masks and other personal protective equipment, such as gloves, related to the COVID-19.

The research team urged governments to establish policies and legislation for the disposal of used masks when they are made mandatory.

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, USA and 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 app called “literate”.

Using these databases, they were able to map the political responses of the countries (severity of confinements, policies for 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.

The data indicated an increase “exponential” of waste from used masks since March last year, which grew 84 times in October 2020.

“There is a clear need to ensure that the requirement of these articles is accompanied by educational campaigns to limit their release into the environment”stated the principal investigator Keiron Roberts, from University of Portsmouth.

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.”

Fletcher, for his part, highlighted in a university statement 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, a environmental disaster”.

Most masks are made of long-lasting plastic materials and, when discarded, can persist in the environment for decades or hundreds of years. This means that they can have a number of impacts on the environment and people, he warned.

The team notes that the uncontrolled presence of masks in the environment it can act, in the short term, as a potential viral vector.

In addition, large animals can suffer complications if they eat or become entangled in them and suffocate smaller organisms and plant life.

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.

Roberts indicated that it is necessary to avoid “This pandemic trash becomes a lasting legacy” and considered that the new policies should have well-structured advice and, above all, with infrastructures that help eliminate waste.