The coronavirus pandemic has made wearing masks a norm. However, this habit has also increased wastes, with thousands of masks disposed each day. Made of polypropylene, these masks do not decompose easily and result in pollution.
23-year-old Kim Ha-neul, a South Korean furniture design student, has come up with a brilliant solution to tackle the problem of waste management. He recycles these disposable masks to convert them into colourful 18-inch stools! And he has an interesting name for them – Stack and Stack.
“Plastic is recyclable, so why don’t we recycle face masks, which are made of plastic?” Kim told Reuters.
One stool requires about 1,500 masks. And since he began this initiative, he has gathered thousands of masks and has obtained more than a tonne of defective ones from a factory as well.
And what is the process for creating these stools?
First, Kim keeps these masks in storage for about four days to reduce the risk of transmission of the coronavirus. Subsequently, he removes the elastic bands and wires of the mask. He then wields a heat gun over the filters of the masks in a mould, melting them to temperatures as high as 300 degrees Celsius.
And voila!
The three-legged stools are ready!
But Kim does not intend to stop with producing only stools. He plans to diversify to make other furniture pieces such as tables and chairs.
Isn’t this a great eco-friendly solution to the problem of plastic pollution? Let us know what you think of Kim’s initiative in the comments section below.
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