The Coronavirus pandemic increased the demand for Personal Protective Equipment, mostly made up of plastic which is easy to dispose of but consequently poses a threat to the conservation of marine life and the environment.
Single-use masks that are not homemade from material and washed for reuse, are generally made from polypropylene (PP), a fossil fuel-derived plastic that takes hundreds of years to degrade. These masks and PPE are now becoming litter that is found in the oceans.
Lead supplier of plastic additives, Biodegradable Future has collaborated with Chinese national high-tech Enterprise, Filtech to create a biodegradable mask, eliminating harm to the environment. With over 20 years of filtration research and development technology and experience, Filtech began to deploy in the mask industry, vigorously research and development, production and sales of protective masks.
Frank Shen President of Filtech âIt is important to encourage the use of biodegradable masks going forward, whether simple ones for the general public or medical masks with a higher level of protection.â
Current PPE masks are made from a complex mix of materials that require specific technology to recycle them, which costs more than the value of the recycled material, hence Biodegradable Future developed an additive for plastic that will naturally biodegrade when it ends up in a landfill, ocean or soil.
According to, Biodegradable Future the additive does not compromise the plastic goods physical characteristics and also doesnât negatively impact the recycling process. Their additive changes the DNA of regular plastic to make it easily biodegradable when it comes into contact with microbes in landfills, soil and oceans.
Leviticus Bentley CEO of Biodegradable Future said: “Our team is delighted to be partnering with Filtech to create a more sustainable footprint within the single-use PPE space”.
The initial production rollout will be focused on Surgical, FFP2 & FFP3 masks whilst moving to a full Biodegradable offering of Personal Protective Equipment PPE.
Barry Cocks, Director of Biodegradable Future, Dubai expressed his gratitude and indicated that he supported the initiative. âThanks to Biodegradable Future, We are at the end of an era where plastic products lasted for hundreds of yearsâ.
