LIPI Researchers Turn Mask Waste Into Plastic Ore Or Pellets

Used masks thrown on the street. (Photo: Akhmad Nazaruddin Lathif/Antara)

JAKARTA - A researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) uses technology to convert medical mask waste into value-added products. said researcher at the Clean Technology Research Workshop (LPTB) LIPI Akbar Hanif Dawam Abdullah, when contacted by Antara in Jakarta, Saturday, August 7. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, the use of medical masks increased significantly, both by the general public and in facilities. health services to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

According to him, if not managed properly, the medical masks that have been used will have an impact on the high pile of medical mask waste. value-added, such as pots, trash cans, and buckets. In order not to become waste that ends up in the final processing site and pollute the environment, according to him, medical mask waste can be processed or recycled using extrusion technology to turn medical mask waste into useful products. In the recycling process, he said, medical mask waste is heated at a certain temperature, resulting in pellets or plastic ore.