Covid-19 pandemic sets new recycling challenge: face masks
3 years, 7 months ago

Covid-19 pandemic sets new recycling challenge: face masks

Live Mint  

Researchers in Australia want to transform single-use Covid masks into road material. More than 1.5 billion masks made their way into the world's oceans last year, accounting for around 6,200 extra tonnes of marine plastic pollution, according to environmental group OceansAsia. In France, Tri-o et Greenwishes, a recycling company, picks up masks tossed in special bins used by some 30 customers, including Parisian hospitals, TV network TF1 and building materials giant Saint-Gobain. Two companies based in northern France then shred the masks, disinfect them and extract the polypropylene, which is transformed into pebbles that are used to make floor carpets or other plastic parts in a car. "We're currently looking for partners to use the face masks in real-world applications and to make kind of a pilot road," Saberian said.

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History of this topic

Return of masks? COVID-19 cases surge; new variant ‘Pirola’ causes concern
1 year, 4 months ago

Return of masks? COVID-19 cases surge; new variant ‘Pirola’ causes concern

Live Mint  

COVID-19 cases in the United States have surged to levels reminiscent of the peak experienced last winter, causing concerns over the emergence of a new highly mutated variant known as "Pirola" BA.2.86 and the impending respiratory virus season. Dr. Georges Benjamin, the Executive Director of the American Public Health Association, highlights that masking remains a potent tool for mitigating COVID-19 …

Health officials are urging masks again amid high COVID, flu levels
2 years ago

Health officials are urging masks again amid high COVID, flu levels

LA Times  

With COVID-19, the flu and other respiratory diseases circulating widely in Los Angeles County and elsewhere, many officials are urging residents to use a familiar tool to help thwart transmission: masks. As case rates rise, “your chance of catching COVID during your routine activities — grocery shopping, eating out, running errands, going to work — will increase,” according to Los …

India's 'Green' Ban Takes Place Within Covid Confines: A Dive Into 'Pandemic of Plastic' & What We Can Do
2 years, 6 months ago

India's 'Green' Ban Takes Place Within Covid Confines: A Dive Into 'Pandemic of Plastic' & What We Can Do

News 18  

India has now banned several single-use plastic products – including plastic straws, disposable cutlery, and earbuds – among some keenly used items. The most commonly used products during the pandemic were clear plastic gloves, disposable masks, PPE kits and increase in food packaging. These centres were sent only yellow bags, as a result PPE kits, gloves, masks with food waste …

With hospitalizations up, France weighs return to masks
2 years, 6 months ago

With hospitalizations up, France weighs return to masks

Associated Press  

NICE, France — Tourism is booming again in France — and so is COVID-19. French officials have “invited” or “recommended” people to go back to using face masks but stopped short of renewing restrictions that would scare visitors away or revive antigovernment protests. After the prime minister this week recommended that people resume wearing masks on public transportation, commuter Raphaelle …

Proper trash disposal can help us win fight against virus
2 years, 8 months ago

Proper trash disposal can help us win fight against virus

China Daily  

A community worker disposes garbages for residents in quarantine in Changyi district of Jilin city, Northeast China's Jilin province, March 15, 2022. According to the guideline of the State Council, China's Cabinet, face masks used by healthy people should be treated as household waste, while masks worn by people suspected of being infected and confirmed patients should be disposed of …

People tire of masks, but doctors in Bengaluru advise caution citing Covid-19 cases in China
2 years, 8 months ago

People tire of masks, but doctors in Bengaluru advise caution citing Covid-19 cases in China

The Hindu  

The scorching summer sun, low number of COVID-19 cases or simply exhaustion from wearing them for over two years are the reasons being cited by an increasing number of people who are lax about wearing masks. Col Singh said in the light of the spread of the virus in China, people should continue to wear a mask, at least in …

Penalty or not, keep masks on
2 years, 9 months ago

Penalty or not, keep masks on

Hindustan Times  

A little over two years after India went into one of the strictest lockdowns anywhere in the world to stop the coronavirus from spreading, the country began rolling back the last vestiges of pandemic restrictions on April 1. Behind their decision was a significant legal change that came into force on Friday, when sections of India’s disaster management law meant …

Many more masks in litter since Covid restrictions relaxed
2 years, 9 months ago

Many more masks in litter since Covid restrictions relaxed

NL Times  

The share of face masks in litter increased sharply since the government relaxed coronavirus restrictions in mid-February, cleanup organizer Nederland Schoon told NU.nl. Based on that data and their own research, the organization concluded that face masks are now the fourth most common type of litter in the Netherlands. Many face masks were found around stations and near tram and …

Covid-19: Is it Time to Stop Wearing Cloth Masks and Switch to Respirators?
2 years, 11 months ago

Covid-19: Is it Time to Stop Wearing Cloth Masks and Switch to Respirators?

News 18  

Respirators have been mandatory in public places in Austria for a year. Respirators, often wrongly called “masks” because of their appearance, are personal protective equipment made to a particular standard and designed to prevent inhalation of hazardous airborne contaminants. While some surgical masks may have better filtration capacity than cloth masks, they were designed primarily to prevent the emission of …

Covid: France 6th country with over 10mn cases, records 2L infections daily
3 years ago

Covid: France 6th country with over 10mn cases, records 2L infections daily

Live Mint  

France became the sixth country in the world to report more than 10 million COVID-19 infections since the outbreak of the pandemic, according to official data published on Saturday. French health authorities reported 219,126 new confirmed cases in a 24-hour period, the fourth day in a row that the country has recorded more than 200,000 cases. In his New Year's …

I’ll be wearing masks in confined and crowded spaces for the rest of my life
3 years, 5 months ago

I’ll be wearing masks in confined and crowded spaces for the rest of my life

The Independent  

With the recent controversy as to whether or not masks should be worn from the 19 July, I have made my own decision to continue to wear a mask on public transport, and in shops and crowded spaces for the rest of my life. Kartar Uppal Sutton Coldfield Gallic smokescreen One wonders if the move to maintain quarantine on travellers …

Many Californians keep masks on as economy reopens, saying better safe than sorry
3 years, 6 months ago

Many Californians keep masks on as economy reopens, saying better safe than sorry

LA Times  

For the first time in over a year, Langer’s Delicatessen-Restaurant in L.A. preps food for in-person dining Tuesday. “Right now, there are just too many unvaccinated people to not ask our customers to wear masks,” said restaurant general manager Jorge Jimenez, 35. “Honestly, I still think it’s way too early,” Ramon said of lifting the mask mandate. “I was surprised …

HOW AMERICA FLIP-FLOPPED ON FACE MASKS FOR COVID-19
3 years, 7 months ago

HOW AMERICA FLIP-FLOPPED ON FACE MASKS FOR COVID-19

Daily Mail  

DECEMBER 31 2019: Officials in Wuhan, in China's Hubei Province identify a cluster of pneumonia cases from an unknown cause. JULY 11 2020: Former President Trump was seen wearing a face mask for the first time while visiting wounded warriors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington, DC. APRIL 6 2021: CDC updates guidance to say that wearing …

IIT Mandi Develops Self-cleaning, Reusable Fabric for Face Masks to Cut Down on Covid-19 Waste
3 years, 8 months ago

IIT Mandi Develops Self-cleaning, Reusable Fabric for Face Masks to Cut Down on Covid-19 Waste

News 18  

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Mandi have developed a novel virus-filtering, self-cleaning and antibacterial material that can be used to make and reuse face masks and other PPE equipment. “Keeping the urgency of the pandemic situation and cost-effectiveness in mind, we have developed a strategy to repurpose existing PPEs, especially face masks, by providing an antimicrobial coating to …

Managing biomedical Covid waste, a challenge for Swach workers
3 years, 8 months ago

Managing biomedical Covid waste, a challenge for Swach workers

Hindustan Times  

With as many as 70 per cent asymptomatic Covid-19 affected patients home quarantined, there could be an alarming rise in the spread of the infection if the bio-medical waste and the garbage of the quarantined person is not dealt with properly. Many of the housing societies have tied up with Swach for collecting their segregated waste but despite the Pune …

Discarded masks litter beaches worldwide, threaten sea life
3 years, 9 months ago

Discarded masks litter beaches worldwide, threaten sea life

Hindustan Times  

To the usual list of foul trash left behind or washed up on beaches around the world, add these: masks and gloves used by people to avoid the coronavirus and then discarded on the sand. In the past year, volunteers picking up trash on beaches from the Jersey Shore to California, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong have been finding …

We might need to keep wearing masks into 2022 to defeat COVID-19
3 years, 10 months ago

We might need to keep wearing masks into 2022 to defeat COVID-19

LA Times  

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, listens as President Biden speaks during a visit to the Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory at the National Institutes of Health on Feb. 11. “If you combine getting most of the people in the country vaccinated with getting the level of virus in the community very, very low, then …

Opinion: America needs better masks to fight Covid-19
3 years, 11 months ago

Opinion: America needs better masks to fight Covid-19

CNN  

Editor’s Note: Abraar Karan and Ranu Dhillon are global health physicians at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. CNN — On Wednesday night, Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s top medical adviser on Covid-19, and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, were asked at a CNN town hall whether the Biden …

‘Astonishing’ Amount Of Masks Thrown Out During Pandemic: Scientists
4 years, 1 month ago

‘Astonishing’ Amount Of Masks Thrown Out During Pandemic: Scientists

Huff Post  

Alarm bells went off among environmental scientists in February, as COVID-19 spread across Europe and inched toward North America. There’ll be a lot of masks.” Based on early data from Italy, the researchers estimated the world would use 129 billion masks each month of the pandemic, according to their article published in June. They’ve both been studying littering and pollution …

Design of Face Masks Crucial in Breaking the Chain of Coronavirus. Here's Why
4 years, 1 month ago

Design of Face Masks Crucial in Breaking the Chain of Coronavirus. Here's Why

News 18  

Researchers, including one from Indian-origin, stressed that materials, design and length of face masks are important to help slow the spread of Covid-19. “The results suggest that the consistent use of efficient face masks, such as surgical masks, could lead to the eradication of the pandemic if at least 70 per cent of the residents use such masks in public …

Disposable face masks are damaging the environment. It’s time to kiss them goodbye, once and for all
4 years, 1 month ago

Disposable face masks are damaging the environment. It’s time to kiss them goodbye, once and for all

The Independent  

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about …

Thousands of Used Masks and Gloves are Showing up on Beaches and Oceans
4 years, 2 months ago

Thousands of Used Masks and Gloves are Showing up on Beaches and Oceans

News 18  

Pandemic-generated waste, such as discarded disposable masks, gloves and wipes are floating into waterways and oceans. Leonard said the pandemic has created a two-pronged problem: “There’s enhanced demand and use of single-use plastics like bags and containers by consumers and businesses for groceries and food takeout,” he said. In fact, the Coastal Clean Up day event in the nearby beaches …

Stop tossing used face masks on the street, say Dutch environmental groups
4 years, 2 months ago

Stop tossing used face masks on the street, say Dutch environmental groups

NL Times  

Environmental organizations united in Nederland Schoon teamed up with the Plastic Soup Foundation for a campaign urging Netherlands residents to safely and properly dispose of their face masks. Since the urgent advice to wear face masks in public spaces in the Netherlands, more and more of the disposable variants have ended up as litter on the streets, Helene van Zutphen, …

How Effective Are Homemade Fabric Masks Against the Spread of Covid-19?
4 years, 3 months ago

How Effective Are Homemade Fabric Masks Against the Spread of Covid-19?

News 18  

To reduce the transmission of COVID-19, precautionary measures like washing hands with soap and water, using sanitisers, maintaining physical distance and wearing a mask are extremely necessary. Determining the effectiveness of homemade masks Aerosols are tiny particles that are less than 5 micrometres in size and can be as small as 100 nanometres, whereas the larger droplets are around one …

Disposal Of PPE Kits, Other Biomedical Waste Challenge During Covid-19 Pandemic: Govt
4 years, 3 months ago

Disposal Of PPE Kits, Other Biomedical Waste Challenge During Covid-19 Pandemic: Govt

News 18  

New Delhi: Disposal of biomedical waste including PPE kits worn by healthcare professionals and public became a challenge during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Union Health Ministry told the Rajya Sabha on Sunday. As informed by Central Pollution Control Board, disposal of bio-medical waste including Personal Protective Equipment kit worn by healthcare professionals as well as general public became a …

Coronavirus: Used Face-Masks Wash Up At Mumbai Beaches; How They Pose A Long-Lasting Threat?
4 years, 4 months ago

Coronavirus: Used Face-Masks Wash Up At Mumbai Beaches; How They Pose A Long-Lasting Threat?

ABP News  

As the coronavirus pandemic continues across the world, there has been an increase in medical waste around the world. The discarded face masks, PPE kits are also finding their way to the oceans. According to reports, now apart from single-use plastic waste which is the biggest ocean pollutants, now a large number of used face masks are also washing up …

Face masks and COVID-19: All you need to know
4 years, 5 months ago

Face masks and COVID-19: All you need to know

Al Jazeera  

We take a look at the different types of masks and how best to use them to stay safe and curb the spread of coronavirus. Several countries around the world have made the use of face masks mandatory in public to help curb the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. While some people have opted to …

Bernie Sanders and Andy Slavitt: America’s cost effective Covid-19 solution? Masks for All (opinion)
4 years, 5 months ago

Bernie Sanders and Andy Slavitt: America’s cost effective Covid-19 solution? Masks for All (opinion)

CNN  

Editor’s Note: Bernie Sanders is a US senator from Vermont and former Democratic candidate for president. Bernie Sanders PBS Andy Slavitt Courtesy Andy Slavitt That’s why we are urgently calling for a simple, common-sense, practical and inexpensive way to protect Americans during the coronavirus pandemic: Masks for All. As the United States reports a record numbers of new cases, research …

Masks offer much more protection against coronavirus than many think
4 years, 5 months ago

Masks offer much more protection against coronavirus than many think

LA Times  

There’s a common refrain that masks don’t protect you; they protect other people from your own germs, which is especially important to keep unknowingly infected people from spreading the coronavirus. That’s the argument Dr. Monica Gandhi, UC San Francisco professor of medicine and medical director of the HIV Clinic at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, is making about why — …

Coronavirus: UK waterways say masks add to plastic pollution
4 years, 6 months ago

Coronavirus: UK waterways say masks add to plastic pollution

Daily Mail  

A waterways charity has issued concerns that personal protective equipment is rapidly becoming a new litter scourge during the coronavirus pandemic. ‘There is now so much plastic in these saltmarsh habitats that you can hear the plastic crunch underfoot as you walk along.’ The massive increase in single-use plastic gloves and masks being used by non-healthcare professionals will negatively impact …

Single-use plastic making 'big comeback' across India amid COVID-19 pandemic, says environment activist
4 years, 6 months ago

Single-use plastic making 'big comeback' across India amid COVID-19 pandemic, says environment activist

Firstpost  

The lockdown had a good effect on the environment but the increased use of masks, gloves, sanitiser bottles to fight the pandemic has given rise to new concerns, said Anoop Nautiyal. Dehradun: Single-use plastic has made a big comeback in the country with COVID-19 dealing a fatal blow to the campaign launched under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inspiration to discard …

‘Soon there will be more masks than jellyfish in the Mediterranean’: Conservationists warn protective gear washing up in oceans
4 years, 6 months ago

‘Soon there will be more masks than jellyfish in the Mediterranean’: Conservationists warn protective gear washing up in oceans

The Independent  

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy French conservationists have warned masks and gloves are ending up in the Mediterranean Sea in …

Swiss company unveils masks made from fabric "that can kill coronavirus"
4 years, 6 months ago

Swiss company unveils masks made from fabric "that can kill coronavirus"

The Hindu  

A Switzerland-based hygiene company has claimed that its technology for disinfecting textiles has, through tests, been observed to also destroy the novel coronavirus. Owned by Sanjeev Swamy, the company is running trials to make masks using this technology that will soon be available in Mumbai and Bengaluru. This was announced in a webinar on Wednesday by Livinguard Technology, an environment-friendly …

This kind of mask can actually spread the coronavirus. Here’s how to fix it
4 years, 6 months ago

This kind of mask can actually spread the coronavirus. Here’s how to fix it

LA Times  

There’s a certain kind of N95 mask that’s actually bad to wear for public health during the COVID-19 pandemic. San Francisco’s health officer warns that N95 masks with a vent on them allow a person’s germs to spread, rather than containing them close to the wearer’s face. The warning is in the San Francisco health order, which says that any …

Homemade cloth masks CAN help stop the spread of COVID-19
4 years, 7 months ago

Homemade cloth masks CAN help stop the spread of COVID-19

Daily Mail  

Cloth masks can prevent the spread of COVID-19 by blocking up to 99 per cent of infectious particles, according to scientists who analysed a century of mask studies. Canadian researchers report that cloth masks, particularly those with several layers of cotton, block viruses carried via microscopic particles in the air. An employee works on sewing the 2 tissue layers of …

An open letter from scientists across the globe calling for use of fabric masks to prevent COVID-19
4 years, 7 months ago

An open letter from scientists across the globe calling for use of fabric masks to prevent COVID-19

The Hindu  

In the light of convincing research evidence that face masks is a great tool to stop community spread of COVID-19, a group of scientists across the world have come together to issue an open letter promoting the use of masks by members of the public. Sincerely, Organizing Signatories Jeremy Howard : Distinguished research scientist, University of San Francisco, co-founder fast.ai, …

Discarded coronavirus face masks and gloves rising threat to ocean life, conservationists warn
4 years, 8 months ago

Discarded coronavirus face masks and gloves rising threat to ocean life, conservationists warn

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The rise in disposable face …

COVID-19 Has Caused A Shortage Of Face Masks. But They're Surprisingly Hard To Make
4 years, 9 months ago

COVID-19 Has Caused A Shortage Of Face Masks. But They're Surprisingly Hard To Make

NPR  

COVID-19 Has Caused A Shortage Of Face Masks. But They're Surprisingly Hard To Make Enlarge this image toggle caption Aly Song/Reuters Aly Song/Reuters China now makes 200 million face masks a day — more than twenty times the amount it made at the start of February. Reicofil's Müller says he gets more than four dozen requests a day, mainly from …

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