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Disposable masks are a waste for environmental organizations. Alone: it’s not that simple.
Parliamentarians and their masks: 15 members of the National Council with their Corona accessories
Keystone
It is the crucial question of the moment: cloth or paper, which is better for the environment? The Empa researchers subjected the cotton masks and disposable masks to a life cycle assessment. Conclusion: The fabric mask wins, if it lasts at least 20 washes.
Are disposable masks a waste of material and pollute the environment? What factors have the greatest impact on environmental pollution and how can masks be made more ecologically sustainable? The Empa researchers worked in an interdisciplinary team to get to the bottom of these questions.
Not all aspects have been examined yet. “Our objective was to create an initial base with which the masks can be optimized in terms of sustainability from the design phase,” says in a message the researcher and coordinator of the Empa study, Claudia Som, from the department of “Technology and Society “in St. Gallen. Wednesday appointment.
Paper washed 13 times or cloth washed 5 times
The interpretation was as follows: The balance of greenhouse gases, energy consumption, water consumption and the general environmental impact (expressed in the so-called environmental impact points, UBP) of the production, use and disposal of the masks.
Effects were examined for a person who uses public transportation to go to work every day for a week and makes three shopping trips. According to the recommendations of the Swiss National Scientific Working Group COVID-19, this person wears two cloth masks per week, which are washed at 60 ° C after use and discarded after five washes, or 13 disposable surgical masks made of polypropylene.
The washing machine is just a sideshow
Calculations show that cotton cloth masks perform better than surgical masks in terms of energy consumption and greenhouse gas balance. In contrast, the surgical mask performs better than its cotton counterpart in terms of water consumption and overall environmental impact. “The reason for this is less sustainable and resource-intensive cotton production,” says Empa researcher Roland Hischier.
On a global average, water consumption is enormous due to irrigation, fertilization and the use of pesticides for cotton. “If it depended on regions with a high proportion of rain irrigation and organic cotton or even recycled cotton for production, the so-called water footprint of cotton masks would look much better,” says Hischier.
The washing of cloth masks, on the other hand, is insignificant compared to production. This means that the greatest leverage effect lies in the useful life of fabric masks, since most of the environmental impact is incurred in the manufacture of this mask ”. How many degrees the mask is washed off is not important.
Next: synthetic fiber, wear time, compost
In later steps, the Empa researchers also want to create life cycle assessments for synthetic fiber masks, include antiviral and / or antibacterial coatings that allow for longer wear, and measure the environmental impact of waste disposal. It is also worth clarifying whether bio-compostable masks help reduce environmental pollution. And with all this, it must be borne in mind that masks must be able to do one thing above all: effectively prevent the transmission of viruses.
