Dirty masks and gloves: How an initiative helps reduce pandemic waste

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...