Public handling of protective masks from use to disposal and recycling options to new products

Remic, Katarina (author), Erjavec, Alen (author), Volmajer Valh, Julija (author), Šterman, Sonja (author)

A study was conducted on the waste of disposable surgical masks and their problematic impact on the environment. The studies examined have shown the negative effects on the environment that are likely to occur and those that have already occurred. In this article, society's relationship to the potential recycling of disposable surgical masks is considered and projected onto the possibilities of the cradle-to-cradle design approach. The development of a product from recycled surgical masks is driven by two different surveys. The first focuses on wear and disposal habits, and the second on the relationship to recycling. As a result, the flooring was developed with thermally treated recycled surgical masks replacing the filler layer. The goal of the product design was to improve the long-term life cycle analysis of a waste surgical mask.

• Language: English
• Keywords: masks, medical waste, recycling added-value product, life-cycle-analysis
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FS - Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.04.2022
• Year: 2022
• Number of pages: Str. 281-289
• Numbering: Vol. 68, iss. 4, spec. iss.: SARS-Cov-2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-136393
• UDC: 687:614.894
• ISSN on article: 0039-2480
• DOI: 10.5545/sv-jme.2022.38
• COBISS.SI-ID: 105918979
• Publication date in RUL: 28.04.2022

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Strojniški vestnik
• Shortened title: Stroj. vestn.
• Publisher: Zveza strojnih inženirjev in tehnikov Slovenije [etc.], = Association of Mechanical Engineers and Technicians of Slovenia [etc.
• ISSN: 0039-2480
• COBISS.SI-ID: 762116

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.
• Licensing start date: 22.02.2022
• Applies to: Accepted for publication: 2022-02-22

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Uporaba in odlaganje zaščitnih mask ter potencial recikliranja v nove izdelke
• Keywords: maske, medicinski odpadki, okolje, recikliranje izdelka z dodano vrednostjo, analiza življenjskega cikla

Projects

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: P2-0118
• Name: Tekstilna kemija in napredni tekstilni materiali