Stephen Clarke, Head of Communications at TerraCycle Europe explained to Metro.co.uk that this is because: ‘Separating the materials that make up a facemask is a complex and expensive process and one that councils cannot afford.’

The National Museums of Scotland are recycling disposable face masks which could otherwise end up in landfill or be littered on streets. The Edinburgh-based museum is using a solution for PPE which isn’t recyclable through conventional facilities, giving them a new life. The TerraCycle collection system is via Zero Waste Boxes which encourage people to dispose of PPE instead of throwing the items away. When full, the boxes are returned for processing and the collected waste is cleaned and melted into pellets. The material can be used to manufacture products including outdoor furniture, plastic shipping pallets, decking, watering cans, storage containers, bins, and tubes for construction..

In March, Seattle was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the parents of Yooni Kim, a retail worker, were worried about her. They sent her a package of disposable masks, and she began wearing them to work. But that created a new problem for their environmentally conscious daughter: How could she responsibly dispose of the used masks? Soon, she discovered a potential solution: a recycling service, offered by a company called TerraCycle. For $86, TerraCycle would send Kim a small “ZeroWaste” box, roughly the size of a toaster oven, which she could fill with used masks and ship back to the company for recycling.   As Kim debated making the purchase, she wondered what happens to recycled masks, and about the environmental impacts of TerraCycle’s process. She figured it had to beat the alternative: millions of used masks piling up in landfills or being burned in incinerators, depending on the local waste company’s practices. “It is an expensive thing to invest in,” she said. “But I was open to paying for it, because if someone wants to dispose of masks responsibly, why not.” Determining what constitutes responsible disposal, however, is not straightforward. And, experts say, a truly sustainable solution would require rethinking manufacturing systems, long before any masks hit the trash or recycling bin.   TerraCycle was founded as a worm fertilizer company in 2001. Since then, it has pivoted to recycling items other companies won’t accept, such as pens and markers, plastic wrap and single-use coffee capsules. So far this year, it’s collected and processed 74,000 pounds of disposable masks, gowns and gloves, stationing ZeroWaste boxes at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas and Subaru dealerships, as well as selling them to individual consumers like Kim.   To recycle the items, workers first sort through the large piles of used personal protective equipment sent to the TerraCycle headquarters in New Jersey to ensure that the dominant material is the non-woven polypropylene used in most disposable masks. (Metal nose strips from N95 masks, for instance, are removed.) Then, the piles are melted down and shredded into a mulch-like material that can be molded into things like railroad ties and shipping pallets. The resulting plastic is structurally sound, but looks uneven and dull, so selling it doesn’t net TerraCycle much money. That’s why the recycling boxes are expensive: The high price tag offsets what would otherwise be a net loss for the company.   The process may not be profitable, but according to TerraCycle, it can help the environment. “By recycling disposable masks, they are kept out of landfills and can be made into new materials and products, reducing the need to extract new materials from the planet,” said Shaye DiPasquale, TerraCycle’s publicist. DiPasquale also noted that bacteria from landfills produce methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming.   But according to Jonathan Krones, an industrial ecologist at Boston College, the environmental calculus is more complicated than that. Recycling masks doesn’t necessarily reduce demand for freshly made plastic. “Would plastic lumber or fleece have been made in the first place without the recycled plastic material? I’m not convinced,” he said. And while landfills do produce methane emissions, they’re mostly from decomposing food or paper, Krones said, not bacteria on plastics such as disposable masks. Furthermore, transporting and melting down masks during recycling requires significant energy, unlike simply letting them sit in a landfill.   Ultimately, it’s impossible to definitively determine whether it’s more environmentally friendly to throw away masks or recycle them through services like TerraCycle’s. If the goal is to reduce environmental impacts, we should be asking questions about mask manufacturing, not recycling, said Krones, because most of the environmental costs come from making masks in the first place. “There’s no good option, because the product is inherently garbage,” he said. In other countries, such as Japan and Germany, manufacturers are required to take back some used products and front a portion of the disposal costs. But no such federal rules currently exist in the US.   Still, even if recycling masks isn’t more environmentally beneficial than just tossing them, TerraCycle’s work helps remind consumers and companies that trash doesn’t disappear after it’s thrown out. Simply offering a service that requires consumers to mail in items by type illuminates the fact that not everything is easily recyclable, and that precious time and energy are required to properly sort recyclable pieces.   And, Krones said, TerraCycle’s service has the power to get more people interested in learning about recycling and disposal systems. Kim learned how difficult it can be to properly recycle everyday items, and she has since become more interested in ways to create systemic change. “We’re all doing the best we can, and ultimately, the biggest changes will have to come from corporations reducing waste,” she said. As for purchasing a TerraCycle box, she’s trying to mobilize her neighbors to buy one together, so the high cost will be shared. “If I can find people who want to split a $90 box, then I’m sure we can pack it really tight,” she said.

VetPartners is trialling zero waste boxes for PPE at 130 of its largest sites across the UK. The boxes are provided by TerraCycle, a company specialising in hard-to-recycle waste, and all types of PPE, including masks, gloves and aprons worn by clinical team members when treating patients, can be disposed of in the boxes as long as they are not contaminated with animal, pharmaceutical or liquid waste.

With the international spread of Covid-19, the global use of face masks or personal protective equipment (PPE) seems set to continue to increase. But keeping ourselves safe should not be at the cost of the planet. Organizations are developing new solutions to reduce the negative impact on the environment. Waste management company TerraCycle has Zero Waste Boxes to collect and recycle PPE, face masks and disposable gloves, explained Julia Chevalier, PR Manager at TerraCycle Europe.

By Helen Carefoot July 9, 2020 at 7:00 a.m. EDT   As the novel coronavirus pandemic rages across the United States, some states have temporarily reversed eco-friendly measures, such as plastic bag bans, to protect both workers and customers, and some consumers have turned to disposable products, such as plastic gloves and utensils, to reduce the sharing of common surfaces. But it’s still possible to practice green habits without compromising your health, experts say.   It’s hard to measure how the pandemic has affected the environment in real time, but a pressing issue for environmental groups is the potential waste being produced by more people using single-use items, such as disinfecting wipes and paper towels. In addition to bleach and alcohol, soap and water works on surfaces, said Ellie Murray, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health; for a reusable option, launder towels and rags used for cleaning in warm water with soap. Cloth face coverings should be laundered regularly, too.   Darby Hoover, a senior resource specialist at the Natural Resources Defense Council who focuses on food waste initiatives, said the challenges of balancing safety and sustainability will continue as more businesses reopen. “The business sector has produced much less waste, but we need to make sure we don’t lose momentum,” she said, noting that most waste is created by businesses, not consumers. She supports measures recommended by public health experts, and she said overall that the lifestyle changes prompted by stay-at-home orders, such as cooking at home, have brought about positive changes in how people are consuming and acquiring goods. “People are cooking from scratch and contributing to their overall health and producing less waste,” she said. Composting, cooking at home and buying ingredients in bulk are all sustainable practices that she recommends.   John Mills, an associate hospital epidemiologist at the University of Michigan’s academic medical center who has been treating coronavirus patients, is frustrated by some of the waste he has seen, such as increased use of plastic utensils (he says proper hand-washing will do more to prevent virus spread than using disposables), but he supports and encourages measures that minimize touch points between people and that protect workers. He said measures such as banning reusable bags in stores are good for now, because they provide extra protection for workers who bag groceries. He likes his local grocery’s policy of having customers bag their own groceries, which allows them to use reusable totes instead of plastic bags. “That way, the store employee doesn’t need to worry that you’ve done the cleaning,” he said.   On a larger scale, though, Tom Szaky, founder of TerraCycle, a private recycling business that specializes in hard-to-recycle products, worries about a global drop in recycling. Falling oil prices and restrictions on what materials can be recycled, he said, could affect recycling companies’ bottom line. (Many companies have limited what they accept to protect workers in the short term, which Szaky supports.) “It’s not going to make recycling go away, but it’s going to make it way less capable.” Companies that have made commitments to pivot to recycled packing will have a tougher time meeting those goals with these conditions, he said.   Recycling personal protective equipment, such as the disposable masks and gloves that have ended up on streets and in landfills, is another challenge going forward, Szaky and Hoover said. “We need to figure out how to recycle them in a way that keeps people safe,” Hoover said.   Despite these obstacles, Szaky has seen sustained interest from both companies and individuals in keeping commitments to the environment. “As we come out of this, I think people are going to be looking to bring their own personal solution, and maybe some of the behaviors they got out of covid,” such as gardening or cooking at home, he said. He encourages consumers to look for products that can be recycled locally or that have some form of take-back program, and to look for products that can be reused.   Lauren Singer, author of the blog Trash is for Tossers and founder of Package Free, a company that sells sustainably made home and body products, is known for living a “zero-waste lifestyle.” Despite growing a following by forgoing packaged goods as much as possible, Singer said falling ill before New York enacted its stay-at-home order (and living in the city during Hurricane Sandy) informed her decision to stock up on products she normally wouldn’t, such as canned goods and freezable items, to minimize trips to the store. She encourages consumers to do what they can to reduce waste but to put their safety first. “First and foremost, your basic needs have to be met,” she said. She still keeps up with other habits, such as using reusable glass containers, composting food scraps and making her own toothpaste and deodorant using baking soda.   Both Murray and Lona Mody, a professor of internal medicine and epidemiology at the University of Michigan, say good public health practice and policy go hand in hand with environmentalism. The pandemic and the conditions that may have exacerbated it, Murray said, are a chance to reimagine infrastructure and systems that create conditions for viruses to thrive, such as crowded public transportation. Disease changes habits, and some cities have already adopted measures, such as cutting streets off to cars to allow more space for walking, biking or eating outdoors, that are also environmentally beneficial. “It’s a good time for us to be conscious. Doing the right thing for public health is usually the right thing for the earth,” Mody said.

By Helen Carefoot July 9, 2020 at 7:00 a.m. EDT   As the novel coronavirus pandemic rages across the United States, some states have temporarily reversed eco-friendly measures, such as plastic bag bans, to protect both workers and customers, and some consumers have turned to disposable products, such as plastic gloves and utensils, to reduce the sharing of common surfaces. But it’s still possible to practice green habits without compromising your health, experts say.   It’s hard to measure how the pandemic has affected the environment in real time, but a pressing issue for environmental groups is the potential waste being produced by more people using single-use items, such as disinfecting wipes and paper towels. In addition to bleach and alcohol, soap and water works on surfaces, said Ellie Murray, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health; for a reusable option, launder towels and rags used for cleaning in warm water with soap. Cloth face coverings should be laundered regularly, too.   Darby Hoover, a senior resource specialist at the Natural Resources Defense Council who focuses on food waste initiatives, said the challenges of balancing safety and sustainability will continue as more businesses reopen. “The business sector has produced much less waste, but we need to make sure we don’t lose momentum,” she said, noting that most waste is created by businesses, not consumers. She supports measures recommended by public health experts, and she said overall that the lifestyle changes prompted by stay-at-home orders, such as cooking at home, have brought about positive changes in how people are consuming and acquiring goods. “People are cooking from scratch and contributing to their overall health and producing less waste,” she said. Composting, cooking at home and buying ingredients in bulk are all sustainable practices that she recommends.   John Mills, an associate hospital epidemiologist at the University of Michigan’s academic medical center who has been treating coronavirus patients, is frustrated by some of the waste he has seen, such as increased use of plastic utensils (he says proper hand-washing will do more to prevent virus spread than using disposables), but he supports and encourages measures that minimize touch points between people and that protect workers. He said measures such as banning reusable bags in stores are good for now, because they provide extra protection for workers who bag groceries. He likes his local grocery’s policy of having customers bag their own groceries, which allows them to use reusable totes instead of plastic bags. “That way, the store employee doesn’t need to worry that you’ve done the cleaning,” he said.   On a larger scale, though, Tom Szaky, founder of TerraCycle, a private recycling business that specializes in hard-to-recycle products, worries about a global drop in recycling. Falling oil prices and restrictions on what materials can be recycled, he said, could affect recycling companies’ bottom line. (Many companies have limited what they accept to protect workers in the short term, which Szaky supports.) “It’s not going to make recycling go away, but it’s going to make it way less capable.” Companies that have made commitments to pivot to recycled packing will have a tougher time meeting those goals with these conditions, he said.   Recycling personal protective equipment, such as the disposable masks and gloves that have ended up on streets and in landfills, is another challenge going forward, Szaky and Hoover said. “We need to figure out how to recycle them in a way that keeps people safe,” Hoover said.   Despite these obstacles, Szaky has seen sustained interest from both companies and individuals in keeping commitments to the environment. “As we come out of this, I think people are going to be looking to bring their own personal solution, and maybe some of the behaviors they got out of covid,” such as gardening or cooking at home, he said. He encourages consumers to look for products that can be recycled locally or that have some form of take-back program, and to look for products that can be reused.   Lauren Singer, author of the blog Trash is for Tossers and founder of Package Free, a company that sells sustainably made home and body products, is known for living a “zero-waste lifestyle.” Despite growing a following by forgoing packaged goods as much as possible, Singer said falling ill before New York enacted its stay-at-home order (and living in the city during Hurricane Sandy) informed her decision to stock up on products she normally wouldn’t, such as canned goods and freezable items, to minimize trips to the store. She encourages consumers to do what they can to reduce waste but to put their safety first. “First and foremost, your basic needs have to be met,” she said. She still keeps up with other habits, such as using reusable glass containers, composting food scraps and making her own toothpaste and deodorant using baking soda.   Both Murray and Lona Mody, a professor of internal medicine and epidemiology at the University of Michigan, say good public health practice and policy go hand in hand with environmentalism. The pandemic and the conditions that may have exacerbated it, Murray said, are a chance to reimagine infrastructure and systems that create conditions for viruses to thrive, such as crowded public transportation. Disease changes habits, and some cities have already adopted measures, such as cutting streets off to cars to allow more space for walking, biking or eating outdoors, that are also environmentally beneficial. “It’s a good time for us to be conscious. Doing the right thing for public health is usually the right thing for the earth,” Mody said.  

By Helen Carefoot July 9, 2020 at 7:00 a.m. EDT   As the novel coronavirus pandemic rages across the United States, some states have temporarily reversed eco-friendly measures, such as plastic bag bans, to protect both workers and customers, and some consumers have turned to disposable products, such as plastic gloves and utensils, to reduce the sharing of common surfaces. But it’s still possible to practice green habits without compromising your health, experts say.   It’s hard to measure how the pandemic has affected the environment in real time, but a pressing issue for environmental groups is the potential waste being produced by more people using single-use items, such as disinfecting wipes and paper towels. In addition to bleach and alcohol, soap and water works on surfaces, said Ellie Murray, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health; for a reusable option, launder towels and rags used for cleaning in warm water with soap. Cloth face coverings should be laundered regularly, too.   Darby Hoover, a senior resource specialist at the Natural Resources Defense Council who focuses on food waste initiatives, said the challenges of balancing safety and sustainability will continue as more businesses reopen. “The business sector has produced much less waste, but we need to make sure we don’t lose momentum,” she said, noting that most waste is created by businesses, not consumers. She supports measures recommended by public health experts, and she said overall that the lifestyle changes prompted by stay-at-home orders, such as cooking at home, have brought about positive changes in how people are consuming and acquiring goods. “People are cooking from scratch and contributing to their overall health and producing less waste,” she said. Composting, cooking at home and buying ingredients in bulk are all sustainable practices that she recommends.   John Mills, an associate hospital epidemiologist at the University of Michigan’s academic medical center who has been treating coronavirus patients, is frustrated by some of the waste he has seen, such as increased use of plastic utensils (he says proper hand-washing will do more to prevent virus spread than using disposables), but he supports and encourages measures that minimize touch points between people and that protect workers. He said measures such as banning reusable bags in stores are good for now, because they provide extra protection for workers who bag groceries. He likes his local grocery’s policy of having customers bag their own groceries, which allows them to use reusable totes instead of plastic bags. “That way, the store employee doesn’t need to worry that you’ve done the cleaning,” he said.   On a larger scale, though, Tom Szaky, founder of TerraCycle, a private recycling business that specializes in hard-to-recycle products, worries about a global drop in recycling. Falling oil prices and restrictions on what materials can be recycled, he said, could affect recycling companies’ bottom line. (Many companies have limited what they accept to protect workers in the short term, which Szaky supports.) “It’s not going to make recycling go away, but it’s going to make it way less capable.” Companies that have made commitments to pivot to recycled packing will have a tougher time meeting those goals with these conditions, he said.   Recycling personal protective equipment, such as the disposable masks and gloves that have ended up on streets and in landfills, is another challenge going forward, Szaky and Hoover said. “We need to figure out how to recycle them in a way that keeps people safe,” Hoover said.   Despite these obstacles, Szaky has seen sustained interest from both companies and individuals in keeping commitments to the environment. “As we come out of this, I think people are going to be looking to bring their own personal solution, and maybe some of the behaviors they got out of covid,” such as gardening or cooking at home, he said. He encourages consumers to look for products that can be recycled locally or that have some form of take-back program, and to look for products that can be reused.   Lauren Singer, author of the blog Trash is for Tossers and founder of Package Free, a company that sells sustainably made home and body products, is known for living a “zero-waste lifestyle.” Despite growing a following by forgoing packaged goods as much as possible, Singer said falling ill before New York enacted its stay-at-home order (and living in the city during Hurricane Sandy) informed her decision to stock up on products she normally wouldn’t, such as canned goods and freezable items, to minimize trips to the store. She encourages consumers to do what they can to reduce waste but to put their safety first. “First and foremost, your basic needs have to be met,” she said. She still keeps up with other habits, such as using reusable glass containers, composting food scraps and making her own toothpaste and deodorant using baking soda.   Both Murray and Lona Mody, a professor of internal medicine and epidemiology at the University of Michigan, say good public health practice and policy go hand in hand with environmentalism. The pandemic and the conditions that may have exacerbated it, Murray said, are a chance to reimagine infrastructure and systems that create conditions for viruses to thrive, such as crowded public transportation. Disease changes habits, and some cities have already adopted measures, such as cutting streets off to cars to allow more space for walking, biking or eating outdoors, that are also environmentally beneficial. “It’s a good time for us to be conscious. Doing the right thing for public health is usually the right thing for the earth,” Mody said.  

By Helen Carefoot July 9, 2020 at 7:00 a.m. EDT   As the novel coronavirus pandemic rages across the United States, some states have temporarily reversed eco-friendly measures, such as plastic bag bans, to protect both workers and customers, and some consumers have turned to disposable products, such as plastic gloves and utensils, to reduce the sharing of common surfaces. But it’s still possible to practice green habits without compromising your health, experts say.   It’s hard to measure how the pandemic has affected the environment in real time, but a pressing issue for environmental groups is the potential waste being produced by more people using single-use items, such as disinfecting wipes and paper towels. In addition to bleach and alcohol, soap and water works on surfaces, said Ellie Murray, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health; for a reusable option, launder towels and rags used for cleaning in warm water with soap. Cloth face coverings should be laundered regularly, too.   Darby Hoover, a senior resource specialist at the Natural Resources Defense Council who focuses on food waste initiatives, said the challenges of balancing safety and sustainability will continue as more businesses reopen. “The business sector has produced much less waste, but we need to make sure we don’t lose momentum,” she said, noting that most waste is created by businesses, not consumers. She supports measures recommended by public health experts, and she said overall that the lifestyle changes prompted by stay-at-home orders, such as cooking at home, have brought about positive changes in how people are consuming and acquiring goods. “People are cooking from scratch and contributing to their overall health and producing less waste,” she said. Composting, cooking at home and buying ingredients in bulk are all sustainable practices that she recommends.   John Mills, an associate hospital epidemiologist at the University of Michigan’s academic medical center who has been treating coronavirus patients, is frustrated by some of the waste he has seen, such as increased use of plastic utensils (he says proper hand-washing will do more to prevent virus spread than using disposables), but he supports and encourages measures that minimize touch points between people and that protect workers. He said measures such as banning reusable bags in stores are good for now, because they provide extra protection for workers who bag groceries. He likes his local grocery’s policy of having customers bag their own groceries, which allows them to use reusable totes instead of plastic bags. “That way, the store employee doesn’t need to worry that you’ve done the cleaning,” he said.   On a larger scale, though, Tom Szaky, founder of TerraCycle, a private recycling business that specializes in hard-to-recycle products, worries about a global drop in recycling. Falling oil prices and restrictions on what materials can be recycled, he said, could affect recycling companies’ bottom line. (Many companies have limited what they accept to protect workers in the short term, which Szaky supports.) “It’s not going to make recycling go away, but it’s going to make it way less capable.” Companies that have made commitments to pivot to recycled packing will have a tougher time meeting those goals with these conditions, he said.   Recycling personal protective equipment, such as the disposable masks and gloves that have ended up on streets and in landfills, is another challenge going forward, Szaky and Hoover said. “We need to figure out how to recycle them in a way that keeps people safe,” Hoover said.   Despite these obstacles, Szaky has seen sustained interest from both companies and individuals in keeping commitments to the environment. “As we come out of this, I think people are going to be looking to bring their own personal solution, and maybe some of the behaviors they got out of covid,” such as gardening or cooking at home, he said. He encourages consumers to look for products that can be recycled locally or that have some form of take-back program, and to look for products that can be reused.   Lauren Singer, author of the blog Trash is for Tossers and founder of Package Free, a company that sells sustainably made home and body products, is known for living a “zero-waste lifestyle.” Despite growing a following by forgoing packaged goods as much as possible, Singer said falling ill before New York enacted its stay-at-home order (and living in the city during Hurricane Sandy) informed her decision to stock up on products she normally wouldn’t, such as canned goods and freezable items, to minimize trips to the store. She encourages consumers to do what they can to reduce waste but to put their safety first. “First and foremost, your basic needs have to be met,” she said. She still keeps up with other habits, such as using reusable glass containers, composting food scraps and making her own toothpaste and deodorant using baking soda.   Both Murray and Lona Mody, a professor of internal medicine and epidemiology at the University of Michigan, say good public health practice and policy go hand in hand with environmentalism. The pandemic and the conditions that may have exacerbated it, Murray said, are a chance to reimagine infrastructure and systems that create conditions for viruses to thrive, such as crowded public transportation. Disease changes habits, and some cities have already adopted measures, such as cutting streets off to cars to allow more space for walking, biking or eating outdoors, that are also environmentally beneficial. “It’s a good time for us to be conscious. Doing the right thing for public health is usually the right thing for the earth,” Mody said.

By Helen Carefoot July 9, 2020 at 7:00 a.m. EDT   As the novel coronavirus pandemic rages across the United States, some states have temporarily reversed eco-friendly measures, such as plastic bag bans, to protect both workers and customers, and some consumers have turned to disposable products, such as plastic gloves and utensils, to reduce the sharing of common surfaces. But it’s still possible to practice green habits without compromising your health, experts say.   It’s hard to measure how the pandemic has affected the environment in real time, but a pressing issue for environmental groups is the potential waste being produced by more people using single-use items, such as disinfecting wipes and paper towels. In addition to bleach and alcohol, soap and water works on surfaces, said Ellie Murray, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health; for a reusable option, launder towels and rags used for cleaning in warm water with soap. Cloth face coverings should be laundered regularly, too.   Darby Hoover, a senior resource specialist at the Natural Resources Defense Council who focuses on food waste initiatives, said the challenges of balancing safety and sustainability will continue as more businesses reopen. “The business sector has produced much less waste, but we need to make sure we don’t lose momentum,” she said, noting that most waste is created by businesses, not consumers. She supports measures recommended by public health experts, and she said overall that the lifestyle changes prompted by stay-at-home orders, such as cooking at home, have brought about positive changes in how people are consuming and acquiring goods. “People are cooking from scratch and contributing to their overall health and producing less waste,” she said. Composting, cooking at home and buying ingredients in bulk are all sustainable practices that she recommends.   John Mills, an associate hospital epidemiologist at the University of Michigan’s academic medical center who has been treating coronavirus patients, is frustrated by some of the waste he has seen, such as increased use of plastic utensils (he says proper hand-washing will do more to prevent virus spread than using disposables), but he supports and encourages measures that minimize touch points between people and that protect workers. He said measures such as banning reusable bags in stores are good for now, because they provide extra protection for workers who bag groceries. He likes his local grocery’s policy of having customers bag their own groceries, which allows them to use reusable totes instead of plastic bags. “That way, the store employee doesn’t need to worry that you’ve done the cleaning,” he said.   On a larger scale, though, Tom Szaky, founder of TerraCycle, a private recycling business that specializes in hard-to-recycle products, worries about a global drop in recycling. Falling oil prices and restrictions on what materials can be recycled, he said, could affect recycling companies’ bottom line. (Many companies have limited what they accept to protect workers in the short term, which Szaky supports.) “It’s not going to make recycling go away, but it’s going to make it way less capable.” Companies that have made commitments to pivot to recycled packing will have a tougher time meeting those goals with these conditions, he said.   Recycling personal protective equipment, such as the disposable masks and gloves that have ended up on streets and in landfills, is another challenge going forward, Szaky and Hoover said. “We need to figure out how to recycle them in a way that keeps people safe,” Hoover said.   Despite these obstacles, Szaky has seen sustained interest from both companies and individuals in keeping commitments to the environment. “As we come out of this, I think people are going to be looking to bring their own personal solution, and maybe some of the behaviors they got out of covid,” such as gardening or cooking at home, he said. He encourages consumers to look for products that can be recycled locally or that have some form of take-back program, and to look for products that can be reused.   Lauren Singer, author of the blog Trash is for Tossers and founder of Package Free, a company that sells sustainably made home and body products, is known for living a “zero-waste lifestyle.” Despite growing a following by forgoing packaged goods as much as possible, Singer said falling ill before New York enacted its stay-at-home order (and living in the city during Hurricane Sandy) informed her decision to stock up on products she normally wouldn’t, such as canned goods and freezable items, to minimize trips to the store. She encourages consumers to do what they can to reduce waste but to put their safety first. “First and foremost, your basic needs have to be met,” she said. She still keeps up with other habits, such as using reusable glass containers, composting food scraps and making her own toothpaste and deodorant using baking soda.   Both Murray and Lona Mody, a professor of internal medicine and epidemiology at the University of Michigan, say good public health practice and policy go hand in hand with environmentalism. The pandemic and the conditions that may have exacerbated it, Murray said, are a chance to reimagine infrastructure and systems that create conditions for viruses to thrive, such as crowded public transportation. Disease changes habits, and some cities have already adopted measures, such as cutting streets off to cars to allow more space for walking, biking or eating outdoors, that are also environmentally beneficial. “It’s a good time for us to be conscious. Doing the right thing for public health is usually the right thing for the earth,” Mody said.