IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i8p4382-d539926.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Disposal Behavior of Used Masks during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Moroccan Community: Potential Environmental Impact

Author

Listed:
  • Nezha Mejjad

    (Laboratory of Applied Geology, Geomatics, and Environment, Ben M’sik Faculty of Sciences, Casablanca 20670, Morocco
    Department of Geology Laboratory of GMSSURAC 45, Faculty of Sciences, Chouaib Doukkali University, El Jadida 24000, Morocco)

  • El Khalil Cherif

    (Laboratory of Chemistry Research Unit (CIQUP), Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, 4099-002 Porto, Portugal
    Institute for Systems and Robotics, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, 1649-004 Lisbon, Portugal)

  • Antonio Rodero

    (School of Engineering Sciences of Belmez, University of Cordoba, 14071 Córdoba, Spain)

  • Dorota Anna Krawczyk

    (Faculty of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, Bialystok University of Technology, 15-351 Bialystok, Poland)

  • Jauad El Kharraz

    (Global Change Unit, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain)

  • Aniss Moumen

    (National School of Applied Sciences of Kenitra, University of Ibn Tofail, Kenitra 14000, Morocco)

  • Mourad Laqbaqbi

    (Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Process Engineering, Multidisciplinary Faculty Of Sidi Kacem, Ibn Tofail University, Kenitra 14000, Morocco)

  • Ahmed Fekri

    (Laboratory of Applied Geology, Geomatics, and Environment, Ben M’sik Faculty of Sciences, Casablanca 20670, Morocco)

Abstract

The spread of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) levied on the Moroccan authorities to increase their mask production capacity, which reached up to 12 million facemask units produced per day. This increase in personal protective equipment (PPE) production and consumption is an efficient tool to address the spread of COVID-19. However, this results in more plastic and microplastic debris being added into the land and marine environments, which will harm the ecosystem, wildlife, and public health. Such a situation needs deep individual behavior observation and tracking, as well as an assessment of the potential environmental impact of this new type of waste. For this reason, we assessed the Moroccan population’s behavior regarding the use and disposal of facemasks and gloves. An exploratory survey was prepared and shared via social media and email with the population of Rabat-Salé-Kénitra and Casablanca-Settat regions. Additionally, we calculated the estimated number and weight of daily and weekly PPE used and generated by the studied regions. The survey showed that 70% of the respondents threw their discarded masks and gloves in house trash or trash bins after their first use, whereas nearly 30% of respondents admitted that they did not wear masks because they did not leave their homes during the lockdown, while from the 70% of facemask users, more than five million (equivalent to 40,000 kg) of facemasks would be generated and disposed of daily by the community of these regions, which presents 35% of the total engendered facemask waste in Morocco. Accordingly, the environment impact of facemasks showed that the greenhouse gas footprint is about 640 kT CO 2 eq./year for the whole of Morocco, while the energy footprint is around 60,000 GWh/year. Furthermore, an urgent multidisciplinary environmental assessment of the potential impact of PPE must be conducted among the 12 Moroccan regions. This study demonstrated the real impact of the COVID-19 PPE on human behavior and the environment and suggests a need for providing new didactic management of facemasks and gloves.

Suggested Citation

  • Nezha Mejjad & El Khalil Cherif & Antonio Rodero & Dorota Anna Krawczyk & Jauad El Kharraz & Aniss Moumen & Mourad Laqbaqbi & Ahmed Fekri, 2021. "Disposal Behavior of Used Masks during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Moroccan Community: Potential Environmental Impact," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-19, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:8:p:4382-:d:539926
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4382/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4382/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Luca Fiorillo & Gabriele Cervino & Marco Matarese & Cesare D’Amico & Giovanni Surace & Valeria Paduano & Maria Teresa Fiorillo & Antonio Moschella & Alessia La Bruna & Giovanni Luca Romano & Riccardo , 2020. "COVID-19 Surface Persistence: A Recent Data Summary and Its Importance for Medical and Dental Settings," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-10, April.
    2. Katarzyna Barycka & Lukasz Szarpak & Krzysztof Jerzy Filipiak & Milosz Jaguszewski & Jacek Smereka & Jerzy Robert Ladny & Oguz Turan, 2020. "Comparative effectiveness of N95 respirators and surgical/face masks in preventing airborne infections in the era of SARS-CoV2 pandemic: A meta-analysis of randomized trials," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(12), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Chuanyi Wang & Zhe Cheng & Xiao-Guang Yue & Michael McAleer, 2020. "Risk Management of COVID-19 by Universities in China," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-6, February.
    4. Navarro Ferronato & Vincenzo Torretta, 2019. "Waste Mismanagement in Developing Countries: A Review of Global Issues," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-28, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Haradhan Kolya & Chun-Won Kang, 2023. "A New Approach for Agricultural Water Management Using Pillows Made from COVID-19 Waste Face Masks and Filled with a Hydrogel Polymer: Preliminary Studies," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gabriele Cervino & Luca Fiorillo & Giovanni Surace & Valeria Paduano & Maria Teresa Fiorillo & Rosa De Stefano & Riccardo Laudicella & Sergio Baldari & Michele Gaeta & Marco Cicciù, 2020. "SARS-CoV-2 Persistence: Data Summary up to Q2 2020," Data, MDPI, vol. 5(3), pages 1-16, September.
    2. Chopdar, Prasanta Kr & Paul, Justin & Prodanova, Jana, 2022. "Mobile shoppers’ response to Covid-19 phobia, pessimism and smartphone addiction: Does social influence matter?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    3. Md. Mahmudul Alam & Haitian Wei & Abu N. M. Wahid, 2021. "COVID‐19 outbreak and sectoral performance of the Australian stock market: An event study analysis," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(3), pages 482-495, September.
    4. Leslier Valenzuela-Fernández & Manuel Escobar-Farfán, 2022. "Zero-Waste Management and Sustainable Consumption: A Comprehensive Bibliometric Mapping Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-24, December.
    5. Christian M. Hafner, 2020. "The Spread of the Covid-19 Pandemic in Time and Space," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-13, May.
    6. Asif Iqbal & Abdullah Yasar & Abdul-Sattar Nizami & Rafia Haider & Faiza Sharif & Imran Ali Sultan & Amtul Bari Tabinda & Aman Anwer Kedwaii & Muhammad Murtaza Chaudhary, 2022. "Municipal Solid Waste Collection and Haulage Modeling Design for Lahore, Pakistan: Transition toward Sustainability and Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-39, December.
    7. Giovanni Vinti & Valerie Bauza & Thomas Clasen & Kate Medlicott & Terry Tudor & Christian Zurbrügg & Mentore Vaccari, 2021. "Municipal Solid Waste Management and Adverse Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-26, April.
    8. Jatau Ramond Yohanna, 2023. "Effluent Pollution in Custodial Centres and its Environs in Nigeria," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(2), pages 1341-1352, February.
    9. Roberto A. Sussman & Eliana Golberstein & Riccardo Polosa, 2021. "Aerial Transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 Virus through Environmental E-Cigarette Aerosols: Implications for Public Policies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-16, February.
    10. Victor Fredrick & Vandu Umaru Lazarus & Ishaku Yahaya & Ibrahim Hyedma Bwala & Ajanson, Samuel Sule & Buhari Isa Uba, 2023. "Impact of Public Solid Waste Disposal Dump Sites: A Threat to Residence of Yelwa Tsakani, Bauchi," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(2), pages 507-522, February.
    11. Ellen Boyd & Michelle Coombe & Natalie Prystajecky & Jessica M. Caleta & Inna Sekirov & John Tyson & Chelsea Himsworth, 2023. "Hands off the Mink! Using Environmental Sampling for SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance in American Mink," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-11, January.
    12. Paul T. J. Scheepers & Heiman F. L. Wertheim & Maurice van Dael & Rob Anzion & Henk Jan Holterman & Steven Teerenstra & Martijn de Groot & Andreas Voss & Joost Hopman, 2022. "Reply to Viner, A.; Ayrey, S. Comment on “Scheepers et al. Comparative Performance Testing of Respirator versus Surgical Mask Using a Water Droplet Spray Model. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 202," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-3, May.
    13. Bingbing Wang, 2021. "How Does COVID-19 Affect House Prices? A Cross-City Analysis," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-15, January.
    14. Vladimír Frišták & Diana Bošanská & Vladimír Turčan & Martin Pipíška & Christoph Pfeifer & Gerhard Soja, 2022. "Relevance of Pyrolysis Products Derived from Sewage Sludge for Soil Applications," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-14, December.
    15. Anna Mazzi & Michela Sciarrone & Roberto Raga, 2022. "Environmental Performance of Semi-Aerobic Landfill by Means of Life Cycle Assessment Modeling," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-17, August.
    16. Yijia Wang & Senwei Huang & Jia Liu, 2023. "Research on the Rural Environmental Governance and Interaction Effects of Farmers under the Perspective of Circular Economy—Evidence from Three Provinces of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-20, September.
    17. Sabah Mariyam & Logan Cochrane & Shifa Zuhara & Gordon McKay, 2022. "Waste Management in Qatar: A Systematic Literature Review and Recommendations for System Strengthening," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-23, July.
    18. Chia-Lin Chang & Michael McAleer & Vicente Ramos, 2020. "The Future of Tourism in the COVID-19 Era," Advances in Decision Sciences, Asia University, Taiwan, vol. 24(3), pages 218-230, September.
    19. Mohd Faiz Ibrahim & Rozita Hod & Haidar Rizal Toha & Azmawati Mohammed Nawi & Idayu Badilla Idris & Hanizah Mohd Yusoff & Mazrura Sahani, 2021. "The Impacts of Illegal Toxic Waste Dumping on Children’s Health: A Review and Case Study from Pasir Gudang, Malaysia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-16, February.
    20. Marco Bardus & May A. Massoud, 2022. "Predicting the Intention to Sort Waste at Home in Rural Communities in Lebanon: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-18, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:8:p:4382-:d:539926. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.