Yogyakarta, July 16th 2021─The Student Family of Public Policy and Management (Gamapi) of Fisipol UGM held a workshop entitled as “Young Generation: Green Campus Actor in Managing Mask Waste” in the series of Fisipol Healthy Campus Week 2021 (16/07). The workshop was attended by Hery Yusamandra, Program Manager of the Indonesian Plastic Recycling Association (ADUPI), as the speaker.
ADUPI is engaged in waste management, specifically inviting the Indonesian people to be more concerned about the management of plastic waste. Since 2015, ADUPI has not only consisted of industrial actors, but also reaches out to waste banks and collectors.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, masks and PPE have played a major role in preventing COVID-19, so their use has increased. Hery said, 2.8 million waste masks are produced worldwide in a minute. The basic material for disposable masks is generally plastic, namely polypropylene (PP). Meanwhile, 72% of Indonesians still don’t care about the impact and management of plastic waste, including masks.
“If we don’t have awareness of the dangers of plastic waste, we are like saving for diseases and saving for disasters for the future,” Hery said. According to him, the next generation will help how to deal with plastic waste. Therefore, proper understanding is needed regarding the proper way of managing plastic waste so that it becomes a useful raw material.
Hery said that the source of the waste has a role to sort and process it first. Masks used by hospitals or sick people will generally be burned using an incinerator, while the masks used by healthy people can be recycled or reprocessed. “If it is not managed properly, plastic waste can become a disaster. But if it’s managed properly, it can become an economical raw material and can be used over and over again,” Hery said.
Hery presented several stages of processing used mask waste made from polypropylene. First, the mask needs to be disinfected with 80% alcohol and soaked in detergent for 30 seconds. After that, the bottom and top of the mask and the strap are separated to get pieces of polypropylene material that are ready to be recycled. Then, the pieces of the mask are collected and stored in containers before being distributed to officers or recycling institutions. Hery also suggested washing your hands after doing these steps.
According to Hery, students as green campus actors are an extension of ADUPI to campaign for public awareness regarding waste, especially plastic waste during the pandemic. Socialization and education related to waste management can be started from the surrounding environment, for example our family, partner, or friends.