An Environmentally Friendly Solution for Waste Facial Masks Recycled in Construction Materials

Madad Ali, Maria Jade Catalan Opulencia, Teddy Chandra, Stefani Chandra, Iskandar Muda, Rui Dias, Paitoon Chetthamrongchai and Abduladheem Turki Jalil
Additional contact information
Madad Ali: Center of Environment COMSATS, University Islamabad, Abbottabad Campus, Islamabad 22060, Pakistan
Maria Jade Catalan Opulencia: College of Business Administration, Ajman University, Ajman 117781, United Arab Emirates
Teddy Chandra: Institute Business and Technology Pelita Indonesia, Pekanbaru 28131, Indonesia
Stefani Chandra: Institute Business and Technology Pelita Indonesia, Pekanbaru 28131, Indonesia
Iskandar Muda: Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economics, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan 20222, Indonesia
Rui Dias: Center for Advanced Studies in Management and Economics (CEFAGE), University of Évora, 7004-516 Évora, Portugal
Paitoon Chetthamrongchai: Faculty of Business Administration, Kasetsart University, Bangkok 10900, Thailand
Abduladheem Turki Jalil: Medical Laboratories Techniques Department, Al-Mustaqbal University College, Hilla 51001, Iraq

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 14, 1-14

Abstract: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, single-use disposable masks saw a dramatic rise in production. Facial masks that are not properly disposed of will expose the environment to a form of non-biodegradable plastic waste that will take hundreds of years to degrade. Therefore, recycling such waste in an eco-friendly manner is imperative. Fibered or shredded waste masks can be used to make green concrete that is an environmentally friendly solution to dispose the facial masks. This study prepared six classes of concrete samples, three of which contained fibers from masks and three of which contained shredded masks at the ages of seven days and 28 days. The results show that in the seven-day and 28-day samples, mask fiber added to the mixes resulted in increased compressive strength. For seven-day and 28-day samples, the compressive strength increased by 7.2% and 10%, respectively. Despite that, the results of the shredded mask addition to concrete indicate that the increase in shredded mask volume has a minor impact on the compressive strength of the seven-day samples. An increase in shredded mask from 0.75 to 1% increased 28-day compressive strength by 14%. However, the compressive strength of the mask fiber decreased by 8 after 1% volume. According to a thermal analysis of 28-day concrete samples, as the fiber percentage increases, the mass loss percentage increases. The mass loss rate for samples containing fibers is higher than that for samples containing shredded mask pieces. In general, based on the results mentioned above, the use of fiber in concrete in its fiber state enhances its strength properties. As a result, using shredded mask pieces in concrete leads to better curing due to the reduction of residual capillary pore water loss in construction materials.

Keywords: facial masks; mask fiber; shredded mask; compressive strength; tensile strength (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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