Paris tests recycling masks
The new crown epidemic is still severe, and the environmental problems caused by masks need to be solved urgently. Paris has begun to implement mask recycling to turn waste into treasure. French “Echos” reported on the 16th that according to an international environmental organization’s estimate, about 52 billion masks will be produced globally in 2020, of which at least 1.56 billion masks will eventually flow into the ocean, causing great pollution. As far as Paris is concerned, 130,000 masks of various types are thrown into the trash every day.
According to the Paris Public Hospital Group, 90% of a 4-gram disposable surgical mask is made of polypropylene. Recycling 1 ton of polypropylene can prevent 1.81 tons of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere. The Saint Antoine Hospital, Necker Children’s Hospital and Rothschild Hospital in Paris have recently begun to collect used surgical masks. The recovered masks are quarantined for ten days and then sterilized by ultraviolet rays. After manual sorting, they will be crushed and processed at high temperature, and three materials will be separated: polypropylene, band metal and elastic fiber. Among them, polypropylene can be used to make sun visors, carpets, storage boxes, auto parts and so on.
In order to help students whose studies have been affected, the Paris city government has also decided to hand over some of the reclaimed masks to a company to make tools such as protractors and teaching aid kits. This can also cultivate students’ environmental awareness and do multiple tasks. According to the report, in terms of capacity, the cost of recycling 1 cubic meter of masks is 311 euros. Starting this week, Paris will set up mask recycling bins in multiple locations, and Meudon, a small city located on the outskirts of Paris, has taken the lead in January. There are 25 collection points set up locally to collect more than 70,000 masks.
In response to the raging new crown pneumonia epidemic, the Indian central government recently allowed local states to decide on their own matters concerning the import of vaccines and other supplies related to the treatment of new crown pneumonia on a global scale, but they were ambiguous about whether to allow the procurement of Chinese vaccines. In recent days, various states have publicly opened bidding documents. Some expressed their willingness to purchase vaccines from China if the central government nodded their heads, while others directly banned the import of vaccines from countries that share land borders with India.
At the end of April this year, news broke that the Modi government will delegate the decision to sign agreements with foreign vaccine manufacturers to local states and enterprises, and the central government mainly purchases locally produced vaccines. “Indian Express” reported on the 16th that Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in India, currently needs at least 40 million doses of vaccines. The state government official Singh said that the local government will launch a global bidding for vaccines within one month. Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Modder Foreign vaccine companies such as Nasdaq are within the scope of the state’s contacts, but they can only discuss vaccine supply in the third quarter of 2021. Uttar Pradesh’s bidding documents require that imported vaccines must be consistent with India’s current cold chain storage and logistics conditions, that is, the storage temperature should be between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius. If “special conditions” are required, the bidder shall provide the corresponding cold chain system or reach an agreement with the agent in advance. This means that if Modena and Pfizer vaccines want to enter the Indian market, they must deal with the cold chain problem themselves. However, there are also reports that because the Indian government’s bid is too low, Pfizer vaccine is not active in entering India.
According to the “India Express”, China’s Sinopharm vaccine has recently been certified by the World Health Organization. The terms of Uttar Pradesh’s bidding document indicate that Sinopharm vaccine is eligible for bidding, but the state government said that it will wait for the consent of the Indian central government. A senior official familiar with the situation said, “As long as we can save lives, we have no opinion on where to import vaccines, but importing vaccines from China is a political decision.”
In this context, some areas in India have used relatively straightforward language to reject Chinese vaccines-“not considering importing vaccines from countries that share land borders with India.” The “India Express” said that the Mumbai Municipal Corporation stated in the global tendering intent issued on the 12th that it would purchase 10 million doses of vaccines, but would not allow “manufacturers from countries that share land borders with India” to participate in the bidding. The city’s deputy mayor Vilrasu said, “Although the policy of the central government is still unclear, we have decided to prohibit Chinese companies from participating in bidding. We do not accept (WHO certification of the vaccine)”. In addition, similar restrictions were set in the bidding documents for imported vaccines issued by Uttarakhand on the 15th.
According to a report by the Indian Asia News Agency on the 16th, the bidding documents of Tamil Nadu state that the bidding vaccine should be approved by the WHO and approved by the Drug Administration of India (DCGI). DCGI currently only approved three new coronavirus vaccines for use in India, namely the AstraZeneca vaccine produced by the Serological Institute of India, the Covaxin developed locally in India, and the “Satellite-V” of Russia.
Data released by India on the 16th showed that there were 311,170 new confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia in the past 24 hours, which is the lowest level in the past three weeks, with more than 4,000 new deaths in a single day. India, which is in emergency, is facing new challenges. The Meteorological Administration of India announced on the 16th that the previously predicted tropical cyclone “Takota” has risen from “severe” to “very severe”. The cyclone has affected many states in western India, causing at least 4 deaths and vaccines in many places. Vaccination work has been suspended.
