PPE Waste Diversion

The pandemic has led to a drastic increase in the production and consumption of single use disposable items. One type of these items is personal protection equipment (PPE) such as face masks, which are made of material that cannot be recycled or composted. In 2020 it was estimated that the entire world was using approximately 129 billion masks, and 65 billion disposable gloves each month.

As a global citizen, Sheridan has the responsibility to help reduce the negative impact of Covid-19 by diverting used PPE waste from landfill. By using a specialized process, used PPE is being collected separately and turned into useful resources.

Since the fall in 2021, special bins have been set up in all campuses at building entrance checkpoints to collect PPE waste for diversion. 

HOW TO SORT:

Your disposable face masks can go into two different bins:
1) PPE Waste Diversion Bins at key building entrances:

Or 2) Mission Zero Recycling Station in the Landfill stream:

Remember your masks or any other PPE that you may have used do not belong in the Mixed Recycling or the Organic bins. Throwing out your disposable PPE into one of the waste diversion bins is the ideal action to take. If you cannot find the PPE Waste Diversion bins, discarding your used masks into the Landfill stream of the Mission Zero station is an acceptable second option.

WHY USE THE PPE WASTE DIVERSION BINS:

It’s simple: you’re ensuring your masks don’t end up in a landfill. Instead, your properly discarded masks will be put into making new energy.

Sheridan College has partnered with Waste Reduction Group to do our part. WRG will come and collect the PPE waste and transport them to a processing facility in Brampton. Through a process called pyrolysis, the PPE waste is turned into a gas under high temperature, which is then combusted producing steam that is directed to a turbine to produce electricity or to a neighboring paper mill for use in the production of recycled paper.