A Design of Collecting and Processing System of Used Face Masks and Contaminated Tissues During COVID-19 Era in Workplaces

Abstract

During COVID-19 pandemic, many countries made it compulsory to wear masks or people started using face masks in order to protect themselves from being infected. Masks are the only solution when social distancing is not possible to apply. Thus, millions of masks are used daily in the world. In Turkey, it is compulsory to wear a mask outside of the houses, and waste management systems are not adequate to manage tons of waste masks that are produced at workplaces or houses. Every day, throwing out disposable face masks and contaminated tissues results in massive environmental pollution and a possible danger for people when they are not disposed correctly. In this study, possible solutions to “polluting the environment massively by throwing out disposable face masks and contaminated tissues” during the COVID-19 period are carried out.