Millions of face masks are being thrown away during COVID-19. Here’s how to choose the best one for the planet

Sun, 18 Oct 2020 05:46:51 +1100

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/millions-of-face-masks-are-being-thrown-away-during-covid-19-heres-how-to-choose-the-best-one-for-the-planet-147787>

"Face masks are part of our daily lives during the pandemic. Many are
made from plastics and designed to be used just once, which means
thousands of tonnes of extra waste going to landfill.

Masks may help stop the spread of the coronavirus. But according to one
estimate, if everyone in the United Kingdom used a single-use mask each
day for a year, it would create 66,000 tonnes of contaminated waste and
57,000 tonnes of plastic packaging.

Evidence also suggests masks may be a source of harmful microplastic
fibres on land and in waterways and litter.

So let’s look at how face masks might be designed to cause minimal harm
to the environment, while still doing their job – and which type is best
for you."

Cheers,
        *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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