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Professor Jie Li from RMIT University told AZoCleantech about his latest research on how to use disposable masks to enhance civil construction materials.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global health and financial crisis, and has had an unprecedented impact on the environment. We estimate that approximately 6.8 billion disposable masks are used every day in the world. We also estimate that during the first and second wave of the coronavirus pandemic in Victoria, Australia, approximately 104 tons and 160 tons of used masks were produced every day, respectively.
According to national policies, masks will eventually be sent to landfills or incinerated. In Australia, they are mainly sent to landfills. However, too many masks are finding their way out of the trash can, being blown into drains and washed into the sewers, affecting our waterways and wildlife. The most serious impact is that many masks enter rivers and oceans, threatening marine life and thus human life. There are reports that if the current mask generation trend continues, the number of masks in the ocean may exceed the number of fish.
Since disposable masks are mainly made of non-biodegradable plastic, these disposable masks can take up to 450 years to decompose in the environment. "
Professor Li Jie, RMIT University
The generation of large amounts of waste plastics, including waste based on PPE plastics, has always been an environmental issue. However, since the beginning of the pandemic, the daily use of PPE plastic waste (including disposable masks) has worsened the situation.
After seeing so many discarded masks scattered on the local streets, the team was inspired to study the feasibility of mixing masks into building materials.
Since disposable masks are mainly made of non-biodegradable plastic, these disposable masks can take up to 450 years to decompose in the environment. Therefore, urgent action is needed at all possible levels to reduce the waste generated by the pandemic.
The use of masks in typical large-scale civil engineering applications will significantly reduce the amount of landfill generated by the pandemic. For example, we found that to make a one-kilometer two-lane road, about 3 million masks can be used in the road construction materials we developed.
It is estimated that about 6.8 billion disposable masks are used every day in the world, many of which pollute waterways and endanger wildlife. Image source: REC Stock Video/Shutterstock.com
First, masks need to be collected and extracted from other waste streams. As a suggestion, the airflow generated by an air classifier or air knife can be used to extract the mask from the remaining waste stream. Then, the mask is sterilized and chopped into fibers/strips. They can then be mixed with processed construction crushed stone or recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) to be used as road construction materials.
The shredded mask has a strengthening effect in binding the crushed stone particles together. The introduction of randomly distributed shredded masks enhances the stretching resistance between the aggregates. Therefore, the ductility, flexibility, and strength of the crushed stone mixed with the mask fiber increase.
Since most personal protective equipment (PPE) is mainly made of plastic, including polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride and nitrile rubber, the proposed method can be applied to different PPE. A feasibility study similar to ours is needed to investigate the potential use of other waste PPE and gravel particles as pavement base/subbase materials.
The main purpose of our research is to evaluate the impact of shredded masks on the stiffness and strength of the mixture of masks and gravel particles as pavement materials. We hope to cooperate with other researchers and industries to carry out work in specific areas to disinfect masks. We know that other researchers have studied the method of disinfecting masks. There are several methods available, including the "thermal method" and the "microwave method", which can kill 99.9% of the virus.
Our team is now seeking to cooperate with local governments or industries interested in collecting masks and building road prototypes.
Research paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145527
Professor Li Jie is the subject leader (civil structure and materials) of RMIT University and has more than 25 years of professional experience as consulting engineers, laboratory managers, researchers and scholars. Through his long history of applied research, he has won domestic and international reputation in a wider range of civil/geotechnical engineering. He has extensive knowledge and experience in civil engineering, geotechnical engineering, pavement geotechnical engineering, materials and aggregates, waste management, recycled materials in civil engineering, field testing and field instruments.
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the interviewees and do not necessarily represent the views of the owner and operator of this website AZoM.com Limited (T/A) AZoNetwork. This disclaimer forms part of the terms and conditions of use of this website.
Laura Thomson graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University with a degree in English and Sociology. During her studies, Laura worked as a proofreader and continued to work full-time until later becoming a website editor for a leading analytics and media company. In her spare time, Laura likes to read various books and write historical novels. As part of BorrowmyDoggy.com, she also likes to visit new places in the world and spend a lot of time caring for the dog on many weekends.
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