A Study on Appropriate Management Strategies for Disposable Masks in Response to the Spread of COVID-19 Infectious Disease

This study examined the current management and problems of discarded single-use masks in Korea during COVID- 19. Field visits have been made to identify potential problems associated with the disposal of single-use face masks. We analyzed a total of 32 discarded single-use face masks and newly made singe-use face masks for material composition and characteristics. Based on this study, there were more than 6.7 billion single-use masks manufactured in 2020, indicating that more than six times higher than the production of the masks in 2019 due to COVID-19 pandemic. The average use of single-use face masks per person was found to be 130 masks/yr, which is equivalent to 6.7 billion masks/yr in 2020 in Korea. After the collection of the used masks, the large fraction of discarded masks was incinerated (14,961 ton or 3.8 billion masks) and landfilled (8,056 ton or 2.1 billion masks). Only approximately 1% of the discarded masks from households was improperly disposed on streets, parks, roads, shopping carts, rivers and streams, and other environment. Improper disposal of such masks may pose a threat to humans, animals, and other ecological receptors because of potential spread of virus, the occurrence of microplastics and their non-biodegradable characteristics. Technical development of biodegradable face masks has been made from scientific community to reduce plastic pollution from single-use face masks. However, more research is still needed to warrant the safety, biodegradability, waste management, and economic factors of the eco-friendly face masks. Waste minimization and prevention of single-use face masks is a challenging task due to the preference of the mask to consumers over the COVID-19 pandemic.