New Delhi: The crisis of plastic and biomedical waste is deepening with each Covid case as millions use and throw face shields, surgical masks, gloves and PPE suits, once used primarily in hospitals and now an indispensable part of everyday life.
The movement against plastic has taken a battering in the pandemic with dependency on single-use plastic surging and households contributing to the tonnes of biomedical waste being generated, worried experts said ahead of World Environment Day on Saturday.
The detritus of the pandemic can be seen everywhere — PPE suits lying discarded behind hospitals and crematoriums, surgical masks and shields being thrown as part of household waste and, of course, sanitiser bottles, gloves and the like found in street corner garbage dumps.
Indian waste warrior recycles PPE, mask waste into brick units
New Delhi: With an unprecedented global need for masks and protective gear, came the challenge of complex waste. 27-year-old Binish Desai, who hails from the small district of Valsad in Gujarat, is an environmentalist and waste warrior who is creating eco-friendly bricks out of PPE kits and masks made from non-woven fabric to help decrease the burden on the environment. A Rotarian, Desai follows a procedure that successfully manages this new kind of waste and puts it to a sustainable use: "After following proper sanitation protocols, the material is shredded, added to industrial paper waste procured from paper mills, and then mixed with binder. The mix is kept for 5-6 hours before being set in moulds. The bricks are naturally dried for three days and the product is then ready for use.” The innovator and sustainability champion is the Chairman of Recycling, Rotary International's ESRAG (Environmental Sustainability Rotarian Action Group) in South Asia.
