Eternity Medical Equipment launches PPE recycling campaign for single-use N95 respirators and surgical masks

ONE MASK AT A TIME
Eternity Medical Equipment launches PPE recycling campaign for single-use N95 respirators and surgical masks

Surrey, B.C., April 1, 2021 – According to the federal government, approximately 63,000 tonnes of COVID-19 related PPE could end up as waste. Recognizing this environmental impact, Surrey-based start-up Eternity Medical Equipment (Eternity) has partnered with Ontario’s LifeCycle Revive to help reclaim and recycle respirators and masks to create a sustainable self-sustaining PPE supply chain.

Eternity Medical is setting up a collections box at its headquarters, located at 19099 25 Ave #103 in Surrey, British Columbia, and will accept all N95-equivalent respirators and surgical masks. Once boxes are filled, they will be shipped to LifeCycle Revive.

“We’ve been looking at ways to recycle disposable masks and unused polypropylene for some time now,” says Jeffrey Wang, CEO and co-founder of Eternity Medical Equipment. “Andy Straisfeld from LifeCycle Revive got in touch. We respect what they are trying to do. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of even more opportunities to reclaim and recycle PPE, taking them away from landfills. It’s a cross-Canada effort.”

Most N95-equivalent respirators, including Eternity Medical’s own ECAN95, and surgical masks are made of polypropylene, a non-woven textile. LifeCycle Revive will now reprocess polypropylene medical waste and launch Canada’s first spunbond nonwoven textile line that will be used in Canadian-made PPE, such as disposable isolation gowns and injection-molded items used in healthcare.

LifeCycle Revive’s PPE project was one of 12 projects awarded a grant through NGen’s Strategic Supply Challenge, describing its recycling and manufacturing process as unique in the PPE space. The company uses a pair of machines to shred old PPE material, liquify it, and turn it into polypropylene pellets.

“There is so much needless waste created, and much of the problem is the bureaucracy behind it all,” says Andy Straisfeld, partner at LifeCycle Revive. “There is a lot of potential with recycling and repurposing PPE. It’s a circular economy! We’ve been actively trying to recruit Canadian companies who make PPE to our cause, and that’s how we found Eternity. We are thrilled to have them onboard.”

Eternity Medical’s own ECAN95 continues to be the first and only Canadian-made N95-equivalent respirator to receive CSA certification. It is Health Canada approved. The ECAN95 is also pending final NIOSH approval, and has Eternity NIOSH manufacturer code EME.

For more information, please visit www.eternitymsm.com.