Incineration and landfilling offer possibilities for addressing high-rate management of COVID-waste streams. However, they can be costly and environmentally unsustainable. In addition, they do not allow to convert them to fuels and chemicals as waste-to-energy and waste-to-product technologies. Therefore, we analyzed whether integrating hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) and pelletization can allow converting the surgical face mask (SFM) and biomass to composite plastic-fiber fuel (CPFF). We blended the plastic material and corncob, peanut shell, or sugarcane bagasse at the proportion of 50:50 (%, dry mass basis) for HTC. We performed the thermal pretreatment of blends in an autoclaving reactor at 180 °C and 1.5 MPa. Then we pelletized the hydrochars in a presser machine at 200 MPa and 125 °C. By analyzing the evidence from our study, we recognized the viability of combining the SFM and agricultural residues for CPFF from comparable technical features of our products to standards for premium-grade wood pellets. For instance, the elemental composition of their low-meltable ash was not stoichiometrically sufficient to severely produce slagging and fouling in the equipment for thermal conversion. Although they contained synthetic polymers in their structures, such as polyethylene from filter layers and nylon from the earloop, they emitted CO and NO_x below the critical limits of 200 and 500 mg m⁻³, respectively, for occupational safety. Therefore, we extended the knowledge on waste-to-energy pathways to transform SFM into high-quality hybrid fuel by carbonization and pelletization. Our framework can provide stakeholders opportunities to address plastic and biogenic waste in the context of a circular economy.

焚烧和填埋为解决新冠废物流的高效率管理提供了可能性。然而，它们可能成本高昂且环境不可持续。此外，它们不允许将其转化为燃料和化学品作为废物转化为能源和废物转化为产品的技术。因此，我们分析了水热碳化（HTC）和造粒的结合是否可以将外科口罩（SFM）和生物质转化为复合塑料纤维燃料（CPFF）。我们为 HTC 将塑料材料与玉米芯、花生壳或甘蔗渣按 50:50（%，干质量基础）的比例混合。我们在高压灭菌反应器中在 180 °C 和 1.5 MPa 下对共混物进行热预处理。然后我们在压机中在 200 MPa 和 125 °C 下将水炭造粒。通过分析我们研究的证据，我们认识到将 SFM 和农业残留物结合用于 CPFF 的可行性，从我们产品的可比技术特征到优质木颗粒的标准。例如，其低熔灰分的元素组成在化学计量上不足以在热转化设备中严重产生结渣和污垢。尽管它们的结构中含有合成聚合物，例如过滤层中的聚乙烯和耳带中的尼龙，但它们排放的 CO 和 NO _x分别低于职业安全的临界限值 200 和 500 mg m ^-3 。因此，我们扩展了废物转化能源途径的知识，通过碳化和造粒将 SFM 转化为高质量的混合燃料。我们的框架可以为利益相关者提供在循环经济背景下解决塑料和生物废物问题的机会。