Good News, UGM Students Develop Trash Can For Medical Mask Waste

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

JAKARTA - Gadjah Mada University (UGM) students have developed an environmentally friendly trash can that is able to process medical mask waste into organic material. The Muhammad Ardillah Rusydan Development Team through a written statement in Yogyakarta, reported by Antara, Tuesday, September 7. The trash bin that Ardillah developed with Gizela Aulia Agustin (Biology), Isthafaina Dea Fairuz (Health Nutrition), and Asyifa Rizki Daffa (Nuclear Engineering 2020) was born from the Student Creativity Program in the field of Cipta Karsa (PKM-KC) UGM. The environmentally friendly trash can, said Ardillah, was made by adding a biodegradation agent in the form of the microbe Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Mask waste, he said, would be decomposed by microbes in about 10-14 days. Even though the degradation process takes a long time, the development of tools through the addition of a number of processes can speed up the degradation process. said the trash can is equipped with a "shredder" at the top which functions to chop medical masks into small pieces.

At the bottom of the shredder there is an ultrasonic sensor that has been connected to a microcontroller and a sprayer. That way when the mask pieces fall past the sensor, the sprayer that has been filled with a bacterial solution will automatically spray the solution towards the pieces of medical masks. "At the bottom of the trash can. designed in such a way that the chopped masks that have been degraded by microbes will enter the storage tube," he said. Another student, Asyifa added that the initial idea of making the trash can started from concern about the large amount of medical mask waste. showed a significant increase in the use of medical masks, namely 2,228,170,832 pieces as of July 31, 2020. Of this number, Indonesia contributed 159,214,791 pieces of mask waste. While the increase in the use of medical masks can cause negative impacts, one of which is the formation of microplastics that pollute the environment. This condition is further exacerbated by the lack of public awareness to dispose of medical masks according to the correct guidelines at the household scale. It is effective because it still produces pollution and is difficult to reach by the wider community.