Background The extensive use and production of PPE, and disposal in the COVID-19 pandemic increases the plastic wastes arise environmental threats. Roughly, 129 billion face masks and 65 billion plastic gloves every month are used and disposed of on the globe. The study aims to identify the polymer type of face masks and gloves and sustainable plastic waste management options. Results The identification of polymers, which can help for fuel conversion alternatives, was confirmed by FTIR and TGA/DTA analysis and confirms that the polymeric categories fit for the intended purpose. Moreover, the handling technique for upcycling and the environmental impacts of the medical face mask and glove were discussed. The FTIR result revealed that face masks and gloves are polypropylene and PVC thermoplastic polymer, respectively and they can be easily transformed to fuel energy via pyrolysis. The endothermic peaks around 431 ℃ for medical glove and 175 ℃ for surgical is observed tells that the melting point of the PVC and polypropylene of plastic polymers, respectively. The pyrolysis of the face mask and glove was carried out in a closed reactor at 400 ℃ for 1 h. Conferring to lab-scale processes, liquid, and wax fuel rate of 75%, char of 10%, and the rest non-condensable gases were estimated at the end. Conclusions It can be concluded that the medical plastics can be recycled into oil due to their thermoplastics nature having high oil content and the waste to energy conversion can potentially reduce the volume of PPE plastic wastes.

中文翻译：

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当前由 COVID-19 造成的塑料污染威胁及其可能的缓解技术：通过热解将废物转化为能源

背景 PPE 的广泛使用和生产以及在 COVID-19 大流行中的处置增加了塑料废物，对环境造成了威胁。全球每月大约使用和丢弃 1290 亿个口罩和 650 亿个塑料手套。该研究旨在确定口罩和手套的聚合物类型以及可持续的塑料废物管理方案。结果 通过 FTIR 和 TGA/DTA 分析证实了有助于燃料转化替代品的聚合物的鉴定，并确认了聚合物类别适合预期用途。此外，还讨论了医用口罩和手套的升级回收处理技术以及对环境的影响。FTIR 结果显示，口罩和手套分别是聚丙烯和 PVC 热塑性聚合物，它们可以通过热解轻松转化为燃料能源。观察到的医用手套在 431 ℃ 左右的吸热峰和手术手套在 175 ℃ 左右的吸热峰分别表明了塑料聚合物的 PVC 和聚丙烯的熔点。口罩和手套的热解在密闭反应器中于400℃下进行1小时。考虑到实验室规模的工艺，液体和蜡燃料的比率为75％，焦炭为10％，其余的不凝性气体在最后估计。结论 可以得出结论，医用塑料由于其热塑性塑料的含油量高，可以回收成油，并且将废物转化为能源可以潜在地减少 PPE 塑料废物的体积。