The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas launched a pilot project for recycling surgical face masks to keep them out of landfills. This is one of the first recycling programs for personal protective equipment (PPE) in the hospitality industry, according to the resort. Covid-19 forced the resort to close temporarily. Last month the Venetian Resort reopened with measures in place that included additional team member training on safety and sanitation protocols, adding thermal scanners, and providing PPE for all team members. Guests also receive kits that contain face masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, and sanitizing wipes. Working in partnership with the waste management company TerraCycle, the Venetian Resort started collecting discarded masks onsite. The masks are then delivered to a recycling facility that separates and shreds them, producing a crumb-like raw material, according to the project partners. That material can then be used to make products like railroad ties, composite decking, and composite lumber for shipping pallets, TerraCycle explained. Prior to the face mask recycling pilot, the Venetian Resort already had a trash-sorting initiative in place onsite designed to divert 27 types of items that the hospitality company said would otherwise become landfill. “Through this program, between 55 to 60% of waste is diverted from local landfills, a number that far surpasses the national average of 32% or the state average of 23%,” according to the Venetian Resort, which is a Las Vegas Sands property.