TY - GEN
T1 - Development of Wasted Non-woven Fabric Mask (NFM) Disposal Machine
AU - Lam, S. K.
AU - Lee, T. T.
AU - Tang, Fanny
AU - Mak, S. L.
AU - Chiu, C. W.
AU - Lee, C. C.
AU - Li, C. H.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 IEEE.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, masks have been widely used as a personal protective equipment (PPE) to prevent respiratory infection. A major type of masks used is non-woven fabric mask (NFM), which is currently classified as domestic waste and mostly disposed to general rubbish bins then eventually sent to the already saturating landfills. Moreover, the contaminated NFM is not disinfected properly during the disposal, which increases the risks of viral transmission and pollutes the environment. To alleviate the existing pressure to the environment, the amount of used NFM being disposed to landfills should be reduced. This paper studied the feasibility of recycling the used NFM and developed a prototype of disposal machine as the primary recycling process. By inserting the used NFM into the disposal machine, the masks can be shredded, disinfected and packed for further recycling processes.
AB - Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, masks have been widely used as a personal protective equipment (PPE) to prevent respiratory infection. A major type of masks used is non-woven fabric mask (NFM), which is currently classified as domestic waste and mostly disposed to general rubbish bins then eventually sent to the already saturating landfills. Moreover, the contaminated NFM is not disinfected properly during the disposal, which increases the risks of viral transmission and pollutes the environment. To alleviate the existing pressure to the environment, the amount of used NFM being disposed to landfills should be reduced. This paper studied the feasibility of recycling the used NFM and developed a prototype of disposal machine as the primary recycling process. By inserting the used NFM into the disposal machine, the masks can be shredded, disinfected and packed for further recycling processes.
KW - disposal machine
KW - mechanical automation
KW - non-woven fabric mask
KW - recycling process
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85146309457&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/IEEM55944.2022.9989608
DO - 10.1109/IEEM55944.2022.9989608
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85146309457
T3 - IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management
SP - 1561
EP - 1567
BT - IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, IEEM 2022
T2 - 2022 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, IEEM 2022
Y2 - 7 December 2022 through 10 December 2022
ER -