Mouth-nose masks. They are an important means of containing the pandemic. You can find them everywhere – even in places where they don’t belong. But where to put them once they have to be discarded?
As the name says: mouth-nose masks are actually intended to cover the mouth and nose – this is the only way they help to prevent infection. This applies to self-made fabric masks as well as masks from the drugstore or pharmacy.
Fabric masks can be used over and over again if they are washed properly (see tips below). So-called surgical or medical masks, but also more sturdy filter/FFP masks, however, are intended to be disposable. After wearing them, at the latest at the end of the day, they should be disposed of – and correctly: not as waste paper, but as residual waste.
There are two good reasons for this: First of all, the masks could be contaminated by viruses or germs. This makes them a health risk for people working in the waste paper processing industry, for example. Secondly, many of these masks contain synthetic fibres. If they end up in waste paper, they make recycling much more difficult and expensive.
Our tips for masking