KUALA LUMPUR: An estimated 86.66 tonnes of face masks were discarded by Malaysians per day in 2020, says the Housing and Local Government Ministry.

       The Ministry said non-medical face masks, Covid-19 self test kits and personal protective equipment (PPE) used by the public are categorised as domestic waste and not clinical waste and therefore will be managed in accordance with the procedures recommended by the Health Ministry.

       “The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a sharp increase in face mask waste, self-test kits and PPEs, leading to the need to create a safe disposal method for these items in order to maintain environmental sustainability.

       “Based on information from the Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation (SWCorp), an estimated 86.66 tonnes of face mask waste was generated per day in 2020, based on the estimated use of one piece of face mask per day with the weight of the face mask at three grams per sheet,” said the Ministry.

       “The Ministry will continue to work with the Health Ministry, the Environment Department and relevant Government agencies to increase awareness and responsibility of the Malaysian Family in managing these wastes through community education programmes that have been planned under the Agenda Nasional Malaysia Sihat (ANMS),” it added in a Parliamentary written reply on Wednesday (Mar 9).

       The reply is in response to Wong Shu Qi (PH-Kluang), who asked the Housing and Local Government Minister to state the amount of waste due to the Covid-19 pandemic such as disposable face masks, test kit packages and PPE as well as plans to reduce such wastes through collaboration with relevant Ministries.