Since the outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (COVID-19) in 2019, facemask wearing has been increasingly considered an effective measure to prevent COVID-19 transmission. As such, the use to facemasks has become ubiquitous in most countries with some counties like India and China making it compulsory.
Recommendations on face masks vary across countries and it is evident that the use of masks has increased substantially worldwide since the outbreak of COVID-19. This includes the use of surgical masks and N95 respirators which are primarily reserved for healthcare workers. This increase in use of face masks by the general public not only exacerbates shortage of masks for healthcare workers, but it also promotes the culture of ‘once of use’. While it is imperative that all measures be taken to try curb the impact of covid-19, the long term impact of daily use of masks on the environment could be far more reaching. The World health organisation has already called for 40% increase in the production of surgical masks. This would mean proper management of daily disposal of contaminated masks will have to be put in place, which could be an added challenge particularly for developing countries.
When considering the life cycle of waste management in South Africa, less than 40 % of the general waste is recycled or recovered, meaning that the bulk of the waste ends up in the environment where it could potentially come into contact with wildlife.
Furthermore, there has been encouragement for people in taxis in South Africa to wear masks when it is invariably impossible to maintain social distancing. The education around the use and disposal of masks, however, has been rather scarce. It is critical that proactive measures be taken to reduce unmanaged disposal of ‘once-off ‘used masked as failure to do so will not only add to the already overwhelming dominance of unmanaged waste in the country, but will potentially add a new dynamic of ‘unmanaged-contaminated’ waste. This will inevitably exacerbate the virus rather than curb it.
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