outbreak of infection

Protective masks, a new challenge in the fight against plastic and an eminent danger to environmental security

Until the outbreak of the COVID pandemic, plastic waste represented one of the most obvious sources of environmental pollution, difficult to manage, being produced over 300 million tons globally, 90 % of which are no longer recycled. Unfortunately, the pandemic has triggered an eminent danger to environmental security, due to the production and consumption of enormous amounts of protective materials, including masks. Recent studies estimate a global monthly consumption of 129