Mask manufacturers embrace recycling to stay afloat
Mask manufacturers embrace recycling to stay afloat
2024-04-02
Since the COVID-19 pandemic receded, demand for face masks has plummeted. At the same time, cut-price Chinese masks have flooded the market. Mask manufacturers in Taiwan are looking for ways to stay afloat in the competitive industry. Many are turning to recycling, either reusing old masks in new ways, or highlighting how their masks are more “green” than competitors.
A production line whirrs with activity as mask after mask rolls by. Mask demand has plummeted since the pandemic ended, and the members of the “National Mask Squad” are transitioning to new ways of working.
Chen Yung-chih
Face mask manufacturer
The cleaning bag you see here uses material recycled from the nose bridges of our masks, remade into refuse bags. They’re very strong and difficult to perforate.
Refuse bags, clothes hangers, and other items are all made of recycled masks. When COVID-19 exploded in 2020, the government invited manufacturers to form a “National Mask Squad” to stabilize the production of public health equipment. At their height, they were producing 20 million face masks a day. But these disposable masks can also become environmental pollution.
Chen Yung-chih
Face mask manufacturer
We have always needed to deal with masks using landfill or incineration. That means that masks might defame, or pollute the air or the ocean in the future. So, how can we make masks sustainable, eco-friendly, circular and reusable?
With these green goals, Taiwanese mask manufacturers are working with the Taiwan Nonwoven Fabrics Industry Association. They’re recycling masks, and launching a new recycling logo. They want to protect the Earth while also making inroads into overseas markets, including Europe and America.
Chen Yung-chih
Face mask manufacturer
During the pandemic, Taiwan had a mask shortage. So all the Taiwanese manufacturers’ masks were requisitioned. That meant foreign clients couldn’t buy our masks. They also had some assessments and considerations to bear in mind concerning risk, so many of those contracts went to other countries or to China. That led us to lose an awful lot of contracts.
Huang Chih-ping
Taiwan Nonwoven Fabrics Industry Association
Our masks still cost between NT$3.5 and NT$5, but the ones imported from China are 0.8 yuan, or even less. Facing this competition from China’s cut-price masks, we want to call on the public to contribute to the environment as they protect their own health. Get a mask that’s all one material, that we can recycle, that we can turn into another product.
Before the pandemic, Taiwan boasted about 30 mask manufacturers. At the height of COVID-19, there were more than 400. Now, there are fewer than 100. They face a decline in demand and cheap competition from China, as well as undercutting rivals within Taiwan. But these manufacturers are working to reinvent themselves. They’re not throwing in the towel yet.
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口罩國家隊拚轉型! 口罩回收再利用變身清潔袋.衣架
2024-04-02
2020年爆發COVID-19，政府為了穩定防疫物資，全面徵召口罩廠商、組成國家隊，全盛期日產量高達2000萬片，但這種用完就丟的口罩卻也造成環境汙染，為了環保，口罩製造商和台灣區不織布公會合作，推出口罩回收，不僅能重製成新的口罩，還能做成清潔袋跟衣架，帶您一塊來看看。
產線機器轟隆隆運轉，口罩一片接一片。後疫情時代，口罩需求大大減低，原本的口罩國家隊，也積極拚轉型。
[[口罩國家隊業者 陳勇志]]
“其實現在看到這個清潔袋，就是用我們口罩的鼻樑線回收的料，去做成的垃圾袋，它的袋子的強性會特別好，不容易被刺穿。”
無論是清潔袋、或是衣架，通通都是回收口罩製成，自從2020年爆發COVID-19以來，政府為了穩定防疫物資，徵召口罩廠商、組成國家隊，全盛時期，日產量高達2000萬片，但這些拋棄式口罩，也造成環境污染。
[[口罩國家隊業者 陳勇志]]
“口罩一直是需要用掩埋，或者焚燒的方式來處理，那這樣子口罩，日後可能會污名化，污染空氣、污染海洋，那怎麼樣讓口罩變成永續，變成環保，循環再利用。”
為了環保，台灣口罩相關產線和臺灣不織布公會合作，將口罩回收再製，更推出全新回收標章，不僅綠色環保，更希望能打入歐美等海外市場。
[[口罩國家隊業者 陳勇志]]
“疫情期間，台灣缺口罩，所以把台灣所有的口罩業者的口罩全部都徵用了，而導致我們的一些外國客戶都買不到口罩，那外國客戶他們也是有一些風險上的評估跟考量，所以他們很多的單，其實都已經轉到其他國家，或者轉到中國去購買，而導致說我們現在外銷訂單流失的非常的多。”
[[台灣區不織布公會秘書長 黃稚評]]
“我們現在都還是一個5塊，3塊半到5塊，但是中國進來的，可能已經只剩下8毛甚至更低。面對中國低價口罩，進來的競爭之下，我們希望呼籲民眾，在保護自己的同時，也對環境做一些貢獻，讓它是同一個材質的，然後我們可以回收，再生成別的產品。”
口罩商從疫情前的30幾家，到疫情鼎盛的400多家，如今剩不到百家，面對市場需求大減、中國的價格殺戮戰，還有國內彼此的削價競爭，面臨生存戰的國家隊，不會退役，而是力求轉型。
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