Hemp Face Masks Step Up To Deal With Covid-19 & PPE Waste

Throughout 2020 there has been a massive surge in need for personal protective equipment, and nothing has been more in-demand than face masks. While many people have opted to wear reusable cloth masks that can be washed, there is still a definite need for single-use masks. According to the World Economic Forum, roughly 129 billion single-use masks are being disposed of every day, creating a tsunami of plastic waste we otherwise wouldn’t have.

While moving to more reusable masks is certainly a way to cut down on waste as an individual, another solution can help reduce reliance on masks with plastic content. As a factory in France is showing us, this is another job that hemp could do just as well (if not better) than plastic.

Compostable PPE

The way this product is made is fairly simple. Hemp is compressed until it comes out as a flat sheet. It’s then laser cut and shaped by hand. The elastic bands put into the masks are recyclable, and the inner layer of the mask is made from corn. Once the mask has been used, the elastic can be removed, then added to a compost heap. By contrast, plastic masks can take up to 450 years to finally degrade enough to be removed from the environment. When you also consider the fact that the material for these masks can be locally sourced and easily be manufactured nearly anywhere in the world, the transportation costs (as well as its burden on the environment) adds even more value to them.

More than one and a half million of these masks have been ordered worldwide as an attempt to cut the environmental costs of PPE. Though that’s barely a drop in the bucket when you consider the sheer amount of PPE being used all over the world, it does show there is another way… another way that several countries are very interested in pursuing.