Abstract
Could Recycling Pandemic PPE Help Reduce Plastic Pollution?
It is estimated that as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, 129 billion single-use face masks are used every day around the world. Recycling experts have recommended that turning hospital waste and discarded personal protective equipment (PPE) into new masks could help UK governments meet pollution reduction targets, including the goal of no waste in Wales by 2050.
Currently used PPE such as face masks is sent to landfills or incinerated, contributing to carbon emissions. Mat Rapson, managing director of Thermal Compaction Group (TCG), recognised the scale of this problem, saying that ‘We use 55 million masks a day in the UK and globally the figure is 129 billion masks, a lot of which is being discarded into landfills’. TCG is currently working with hospital trusts across the UK to melt down and repurpose PPE using thermal heating devices. These are then turned into blocks of 99.6% polypropylene, which can subsequently be made into plastic chairs, buckets and toolboxes.
Mr Rapson says that ‘If a mask goes into landfill, or worse beaches or rivers, it takes 450 years to decompose ... We’re just discarding these single-use disposable items, but they’re not single-use, they can be recovered and remade multiple times’.
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Plastic pollution: Could recycling PPE reduce the problem? 7 September 2021. BBC News. Available online at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-57687261 (last accessed 7 September 2021)
The Effect of Climate Change on Water System Management
Susanne Surman-Lee
Chair RSPH Water Special Interest Group and Director Leegionella Ltd
The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) webinar given by Professor Gordon Nichols on 8 September 2021 highlighted the increased risks of waterborne infections associated with climate change on a global scale. In the UK, we are already feeling the consequences of changing weather patterns with predictions of increased health risks to millions associated with flooding and heatwaves. 1 The potential impacts of flooding, increased temperatures and reducing our carbon footprint will require not only changes to the way we construct building water systems in the future, but those tasked with managing building water systems and associated equipment will need a continuum of increased resources to manage risks associated with the impact of warmer influent cold water temperatures, energy reduction strategies to minimise climate change and reduced availability of water for flushing to maintain water hygiene during periods of drought. There is already published evidence of increases in ground water temperatures in Europe 2 and many anecdotal reports of water temperatures at the point of entry into buildings in the UK in excess of 20°C. Guidance in the UK for managing water systems safely to reduce the risk of waterborne infections such as Legionnaires’ disease 3 (LD) requires that cold water temperatures should be kept below 20°C throughout the building water system. It is of concern to note that in the last 5 years, the notification rates of LD have nearly doubled in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA), from 1.4 in 2015 to 2.2 per 100,000 population. 4 While there are many potential reasons why the LD rate is increasing, including better ascertainment, there is also evidence that the population which fall into the higher risk category for acquisition of LD is also increasing, with the US reporting that there has been a 5.5-fold rise in those who are immunocompromised during 2000–2017 from 0.42 to 2.29 per 100,000 persons. 5 LD has a mortality rate of around 10%; those who survive often have shortened life spans and long-term sequalae, limiting their ability to work. The impact of climate change will need to take account of the increased costs of designing and managing water systems safely, and the burden on the healthcare system and on the individuals and families of those adversely affected by waterborne illness.