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What About Things Like:

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) ranges from face masks and gloves to eye protection and more. Single use face masks should be disposed of after use. Since they are not recyclable in most instances, they can be placed in the trash bin. The same goes for single use gloves, ear plugs, head covers and isolation gowns.

Please carefully remove PPE by not touching the outside or the front of the item, where it can potentially be contaminated. It is also best practice to thoroughly wash your hands after removal of PPE.

There are alternatives to single use PPE. For example, try a cloth face mask and wash it to keep it clean. Or earmuffs are a great reusable substitute for single use ear plugs.

Here are a few websites with more information about disposing PPE:

• Is PPE Recyclable? How to Dispose of PPE Correctly
• Repurposing PPE: Recycling Plastic Waste into Clean, Useful Materials
• Saving the Earth From COVID Pollution: EcoBreathe Recyclable Face Mask
  

There is also an option to set up a recycling service for PPE, where you can collect used PPE and send it back to be recycled. More information on that can be found HERE.

Please note that some external links provide information that is not managed nor updated by OC Waste & Recycling.  You may contact those sites directly with any questions, requests or updates. We will routinely monitor external sites linked from our pages.