If you don’t want to store all your used, disposable masks but do want to keep them out of the landfill, Cedars Unitarian Universalist Church has a solution for you. Cedars has purchased a box through Terracycle’s recycling program in which disposable masks — not cloth — are being collected at their church office doorway at 284 Madrona Way NE #128 (last commercial building, farthest door down on the left).
Terracycle’s site explains that the different materials in the masks are separated by using a variety of sorting methods and are then sent to third-party partners for processing, where…
- The metals are manually removed and sent for smelting into new bar stock and metal sheeting.
- The polypropylene-dominant mixture from the face mask is densified into a crumb-like raw material that is used in plastic lumber and composite decking applications.
- The elastane or rubber band portion is ground into a fine mesh regrind and mixed with recycled plastics as an additive to provide flexibility and malleability to products.
Posted 3-18-2022