Face masks are non-degradable and will stay in the land for hundreds of years, says a waste management specialist.
PETALING JAYA: The government has been urged to come up with a way in which the public can dispose of face masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment without adding plastic materials to Malaysia’s landfills. Solid Waste Management expert P Agamuthu of the Jeffrey Cheah Institute on Southeast Asia called for “affirmative action” on the collection of such materials.“The government has told us we need to wear masks when we go out in public, but it hasn’t told us how to throw them away properly.”
Environment and waste management specialist Theng Lee Chong recently estimated that more than 10 million masks were disposed of every day in Malaysia.“Face masks bring challenging environmental threats because they are non-degradable and will stay in the land for hundreds of years,” he said. Clinical waste like PPE cannot be recycled due to the health risks they pose to recycling plant workers. So healthcare centres typically use specialist services to safely collect and incinerate their waste. But these services are inaccessible to the public.“So far I haven’t heard of any specific moves from the government in managing PPE such as face masks,” he said.
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