Metro Vancouver residents threw away roughly 260 million face masks in 2021, the equivalent of 94 masks per person, according to figures highlighted in a recent waste composition study..The regional district’s number of discarded masks in 2021 was more than double from the previous year..The study was led by Terry Fulton, a senior project engineer with Solid Waste Services..Overall, personal protective equipment (PPE) totalled roughly 710 million discarded items during the second year of the pandemic. For example gloves — counted individually — made up 350 million of the district's disposed PPE items in 2021, and an estimated 100 million from disposable wipes..Despite being in the hundreds of millions, PPE accounted for less than one percent of Metro Vancouver’s waste..All single-use items, which PPE is included in, make up less than five percent of the region’s waste..Plastic is highlighted as particularly problematic, as it slowly breaks down into micro-plastics without fully degrading, eventually making its way into the ocean and food products..In November 2021 Canada’s Department of Environment said tens of thousands of tonnes of face masks had been discarded nationwide throughout the pandemic..“An unprecedented amount of single use personal protective equipment is being used in Canada to prevent transmission of COVID-19 leading to an estimated 63,000 tonnes of PPE waste by mid-2021,” said a November 19 department briefing note..Roughly 9% of plastic waste is recycled, the department estimates. Cabinet hopes to raise that number to 75% by 2030..“This will be accomplished through changing federal practices, e.g., reducing the use of unnecessary single-use plastics in meetings and events as well as in the procurement of more sustainable plastic products,” wrote department staff..The Public Health Agency also expressed concern earlier that year regarding environmental impact of pandemic litter, estimating the country used about 450 million masks per month.
