Fabrication of Sustainable Unfired Brick Using Covid-19 Non-woven PPE Kit Waste and Paper Industry Sludge

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has increased the global demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) to prevent public health emergencies. The majority of people choose face masks among all PPEs for protective purposes. PPE kits are made of a non-biodegradable material which is hazardous to human health as well as aquatic life and the environment. With the addition of more paper industries, waste generation is rapidly rising. The majority of the Paper industry's sludge is sent to the landfill site which produces harmful gases (CO2 and methane) that leads to global warming. Consequently, it is necessary to manage such waste through sustainable means. This study focuses on the use of COVID-19 Non-woven PPE Kits including face masks (single use, surgical, N-95, etc.), and head cover with paper industry sludge for the fabrication of sustainable unfired brick. The 9 steps of sustainable unfired brick fabrication include disinfection of waste, mixing and crushing waste, moulding, demoulding, and drying unfired brick. Water absorption and compressive strength test were performed on fabricated unfired brick. The compressive strength test was observed to be 62.83 kg/cm2 in fabricated unfired brick with 48% of disinfected COVID-19 non-woven waste, 32% of paper industry sludge and 20% of EETech binder. The sustainable unfired brick had a minimal carbon footprint.