Face masks and antigen tests contaminating recycling plants

Facemasks are considered medical waste ans cannot be recycled.

Ireland's biggest recycling plant is inundated with face masks and medical waste among other Covid-related paraphernalia.

"We are seeing it all. Face masks are a huge problem, and they're not recyclable. It's the throw-away blue ones, they're composite meaning they're a mix or a blend of materials and therefore not recyclable," said Liam Dunne, general manager at Panda's materials recovery facility.

The plant processes the recycling waste of 350,000 homes in Ireland every single day and Covid is present in more ways than one.

"We're getting the used swabs from the antigen tests, the plastic cartridges and the antigen tests themselves - none of these are recyclable. This is medical waste," Mr Dunne told the Irish Examiner.

While robotic machines and magnets divide the waste into categories like aluminium and paper, human beings separate the waste at the start of the line having to pick out everything from soiled nappies to deceased pets, and now as a result of Covid medical waste and used masks.

Another impact of Covid is the make-up of our waste. With more people working from home there is far more domestic waste being generated, said Mr Dunne. There is a 30-35% increase in home recycling. And with an increase in online shopping the amount of cardboard has gone up drastically.

"We've seen a huge increase in cardboard and I have been here 10 years. Before, we would have maybe 6% cardboard and 50-55% paper, if you broke down 100% of material.

But then with paperless bills and a move to online, paper fell off to 40% over the years.

"But with lockdown cardboard crept up to 10%, and then it nearly doubled, to be about 16-18% of everything we process. Everything you buy is in a box nowadays," said Mr Dunne.

Another thing that changed over the last two years in our recycling is that soft plastics such as films and clingfilm are now allowed to go in the green bin.

Many people were putting soft plastics in their green bin before it was allowed and so there has only been an increase of about 2-4% in soft plastics in Ireland's largest recycling plant since the national change was introduced in September 2021.

Food contamination

These plastics, used to cover food mostly, contaminate waste unless they are cleaned. These plastics are still coming in contaminated.

"If people put nasty bits of food-covered plastics in their green bin they have to be handpicked and removed," said Mr Dunne.

Skips and skip bags are also being used far more with people spending more time at home - and that part of their business doubled in the summer of 2020.

And the increase in the consumption of beverages at home, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic is also evident in our bins.

"Aluminium cans are up because people are consuming beverages at home. There is also an increase in PET bottles - so fizzy water and fizzy drinks are being consumed at home," said Mr Dunne.

Christmas this year was also extremely busy, so much so that getting staff to cover the surge was difficult.

An existing pre-pandemic issue is people putting soiled nappies and other contaminated goods into their green bin.

"When people put food waste and nappies in there is a person who has to take it out. mywaste.ie is really a great resource for what you can and cannot recycle," said Mr Dunne.