The Covid-19 pandemic has created a mountain of plastic waste, as healthcare workers don new personal protective equipment every day in the fight against the disease.<\/p>\n
The U.K. government alone has sent out more than a billion type IIR masks\u2014the kind most commonly used in healthcare settings\u2014to providers since the start of the pandemic.<\/p>\n
These single-use masks are largely made from plastic, which can take hundreds of years to break down. This is a serious blow to a health service which just last year launched a national drive towards sustainability, committing to reduce its use of single-use plastics and cut its carbon emissions.<\/p>\n
But some providers think they\u2019ve found a solution to this growing problem. Organisations including the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust are recycling their disposable masks into material that can be used to make new products like bottles, bins and furniture.<\/p>\n
Previously, these masks would have been destined for incineration, releasing carbon dioxide and other harmful emissions into the atmosphere.<\/p>\n
Behind this technology is a Cardiff-based firm Thermal Compaction Group (TCG), who have so far sold their patented \u201cSterimelt\u201d devices to seven hospital trusts in England. These devices heat polypropylene plastic to up to 350 degrees Celsius and compress it into rectangular blocks that can be sold and converted into pellets for new plastic products.<\/p>\n
Although the firm doesn\u2019t currently recommend using its machines to deal with contaminated waste, the heat of the devices mean the blocks come out in a near-sterile state.<\/p>\n
As well as recycling plastic, the technology can significantly impact trusts\u2019 carbon emissions, reducing the volume of waste that needs to be transported off-site. The firm estimates that for every 10,000 kilograms of waste processed through Sterimelt, hospital trusts will save 7,500 kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope this will be a real game changer in the way tackle single use PPE, not only for us here in Cornwall but across the UK and beyond,\u201d Royal Cornwall\u2019s care group general manager Roz Davies recently said in a\u00a0press release<\/a>. \u201cThe use of masks has grown extraordinarily this year but now we have the option to recycle them, as well as other items such as theatre wraps and gowns.\u201d<\/p>\n TCG, who have been refining their technology since 2003, say interest has ballooned in recent years. CEO Philip Davison-Sebry told me: \u201cWhen you’ve got the likes of David Attenborough highlighting the potential crises around the world with global warming, it brings a lot of the issues that we’ve been aware of for many, many years to the frontline.\u201d<\/p>\n Although TCG\u2019s technology is in a relatively small number of organisations at present, the firm has high hopes for its widespread adoption in the country\u2019s health service and further afield. Chief sustainability officer Thomas Davison-Sebry told me: \u201cWe’ve just exported one of our units into the Netherlands\u2014our first export for Sterimelt\u2014and we’ve had enquiries from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa. We even just had one recently in Hawaii.\u201d<\/p>\n