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The continued careless disposal of single-use face masks is rapidly becoming a pollution concern to environmentalists and human rights activists in Marsabit County.
The National Environment Management Authority (Nema) Marsabit County Branch Director Edward Wawire told nation.africa they are worried by the hazardous disposal of the masks.
“We need to raise intensive awareness in communities about the necessity for proper waste disposal activities, especially on the appropriate single-use face masks disposal,” Mr Wawire said.
He noted that specialised waste management should be applied while handling the masks including, being disposed of in separate litter bins and transported only by Nema licensed persons.
Moreover, the used face masks should be incinerated just like other medical waste. In Kenya, the use of face masks is compulsory as part of Covid-19 containment measures.
He said that the used masks ought not to be touched but instead be treated like any other potentially contaminated material and only be handled professionally using the right protective gear.
The official urged county governments to set up separate infectious waste bins only meant for the single-use face masks where no other waste is dumped, noting that waste management was a devolved function.
Reckless disposal
The continued reckless disposal of the face masks could result in detrimental environmental effects including animal choking, pollution, blockage of channels, rivers and streams, and landscape disfigurement.
While speaking during a sensitisation workshop for County Risk Governance Actors, Saku Accountability Forum (SAF) CEO James Forole said used masks are rampant in the county.
“It is quite shocking to note that nowadays whenever you walk for every 50 metres in urban and even peri-urban areas you spot recklessly disposed masks. People should put them in the bin. Animals might eat them, and they might die”, Mr Forole said.
He warned that if no timely regulatory frameworks are instituted to deal with the menace, unmanageable proportions of the face masks either discarded accidentally or carelessly would end up being blown into farms, grazing lands, streams or rivers.
Carelessly disposed face masks are likely to reduce agricultural production worldwide, thus necessitating significant awareness-raising to undertake proper, effective and concrete proactive action by all stakeholders.
The officials said education is a critical tool for behaviour change by educating people about the environmental and health expense of careless disposal of face masks.
Other actions that can be taken to limit the impact of careless disposal of masks on the environment include using eco-friendly materials as an alternative and adopting legislation that would make such reckless disposal less attractive.
Even with millions of people being told to use face masks, little guidance has been given on how to dispose of or recycle them safely.
Therefore, with billions of masks needed each month globally, without better disposal practices, an environmental disaster is looming.
A good number of masks are manufactured from long-lasting plastic materials, and if discarded can have a number of impacts on the environment and people.
In March 2020, the World Health Organization estimated that 89 million additional disposable masks were needed globally per month in medical settings alone to combat Covid-19.
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