Strategies to Reduce the Carbon Footprint of Protective Face Masks

On the global scale, protective face masks played a fundamental role in limiting the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 380 and 402 billion units were sold in 2020 and 2021, respectively, compared to about 12 billion in 2019. Although sales returned gradually to the pre-pandemic levels, registering about 28 billion units in 2023, humans still face negative environmental effect mainly due to both production and disposal of protective face masks. The impacts largely depend on the production of polypropylene (PP) non-woven fabrics, during the manufacturing stage, followed by disposal. The production, consumption, and disposal of single use PP face masks impact on soil and marine pollution due to microplastics and better performances could be achieved by switching from single use to reusable face masks, either in environmental or economic terms. Sanitization techniques modelled for reuse foster reduction of carbon footprint. From the lifecycle thinking perspective, the current chapter illustrates the main tasks to improve the sustainability of protective face mask by evaluating their carbon footprint. Such an approach contributes (i) to enrich the scientific literature in the field of carbon footprint applied to the entire supply chain of protective face masks; (ii) to implement innovative materials, more suitable for recycling and with decreased environmental impacts; and (iii) to model the environmental impacts of the life cycle of protective face masks using sanitization techniques aimed to implement reuse strategies.