PLASTIC WASTE IN THE INDUSTRY OF PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT FOT HEIGHTS (10 min. reading)
PLASTIC WASTE IN THE INDUSTRY OF PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT FOR HEIGHTS (10 min. reading)
In line with the important and worrying changes that we are witnessing in modernity, in recent years the attention of users has been increasingly focused on environmental conservation issues. It is also important to remember that, both in the literature and in the preventive actions implemented in the field of industrial safety, for decades the safeguarding of the environment has been present in the raw material processing industry and not only. However, while for waste linked to the production chain there are clear and strict policies for friendly management of the environment, regulated by standards, laws, etc. What happens to personal protective equipment (PPE) for heights when they reach the end of their useful life? We find the answer in any technical data sheet and it is called “destruction”, an action that foresees the breaking of subcomponents of personal protection equipment, so that no one else can use the accessory. But beyond what we understand as a more than pertinent social responsibility policy to avoid exposing third parties with the accidental use of a withdrawn PPE, in this scheme the environment is the great absentee since this process generates enormous amounts of plastic garbage. . It is also worth emphasizing that, unlike the waste from manufacturing raw materials, these PPE are rarely disposed of correctly within the processes of industrial plants, because they are linked to external services (outsourcing) as in the case of maintenance, inspection, construction, etc. as well as other service industries that do not require industrial processing plants. While the problem of PPE or disposables in general was already evidenced as of 2020 with the large number of masks marketed due to the SARS-COV2 pandemic, the specific issue of the multitude of harnesses, lifelines, straps, helmets, etc. specific to activities at heights (manufactured from non-biodegradable fibers and plastic-derived materials), has never been addressed. In this article, the intention is to present a subject that has not been dealt with much in order to sensitize the public user in a simplified way, touching on it through some key points.
THE PLASTIC WASTE PROBLEM
According to data from National Geographic, more than 90% of the world's plastics are produced from fossil fuels and take up to 450 to 1000 years to decompose. On the other hand, a study carried out by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) estimates that in 2019 alone, the pollution resulting from the global production of plastics and their subsequent incineration was equal to the emissions from 189 coal-fired power plants. According to a recent Iberdrola study, 75% of all plastic produced is currently wasted because it is not recycled. It is estimated that 8 million tons of plastic waste reach the world's seas every year. This is what generates the famous plastic islands (the size of a continent), which are concentrations of garbage made up mostly of microplastics smaller than five millimeters that float inside ocean gyres. For this reason, the United Nations Organization (UN) has been warning the international community for some time about the damage caused by oceanic garbage in the economy and the environment, since this waste decimates marine ecosystems by causing the death of more than a million people. animals per year. Recent studies have also shown the presence of microplastics in people from several continents, causing damage to health. Although we do not really know the contribution of the PPE production sector on the waste of plastic at a general level, it is a fact that these add up to increase the problem and because the panorama is so disturbing, of course the actions must be massive and extensive to all types of industry.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES OF MANUFACTURERS
Of course the problem of the accumulation of plastic waste is well known by the manufacturers of PPE. Although initiatives in favor of the environment have been presented for a couple of decades, such as campaigns for the remanufacturing or repair of plastic fiber textile equipment, direct recycling with the manufacturing firms, etc. these have actually been very limited and have not given the expected results. Possibly the costs and complications of the PPE retail return logistics could be the explanation for the above and the reason why the manufacturers finally chose to leave the task of correctly disposing of the equipment to the end user, mainly through of the public sector. Some manufacturers usually share guides for the correct disposal of their equipment, but when analyzing them, the difficulty derived from the meticulous decomposition of these accessories into parts that must be disposed of differently, as their very nature implies, becomes clear. Now, if in addition to the above we consider the global and large-scale trade scheme that involves the sale of products in countries that lack correct garbage collection and disposal systems, it is clear how most of this equipment unfortunately ends up in landfills, incinerators or even worse, directly into the environment, generating great pollution. It should also be noted that there are official reports on the environmental impact of PPE manufacturers, but these documents only show important mitigation actions carried out through the use of recycled raw material, recycling of waste (exclusively in its manufacturing process industrial), the use of renewable energy and compensation materialized through the financing of projects in favor of the environment, quotas for carbon footprints, etc. While, as already stated, these valuable initiatives fail to be a true solution to the problem, at the moment there are no more proposals that involve, for example, the improvement or change of the raw materials with which PPE is manufactured.
USEFUL LIFE AND PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE
Up to this point, the topic discussed could be similar to any type of industry that produces or uses goods created from plastic polymers and, in addition to that, it could even be understood as having less coverage (but no less relevant) due to the expiration date defined for PPE from heights. which is usually around 10 years. But in the case of the category of personal protective equipment, it is important to remember that these are subject to a very strict control of useful life (wear). The main reason derives either from the very nature of these teams, which first of all must protect their correct function within the different strategies of industrial safety and occupational health based on the use of PPE, as well as the legal responsibility that the Different firms have when marketing a category of products that, when misused, could even become an accident factor. Returning to the issue of environmental conservation, it is quite disturbing the evidence of how these equipments are less and less durable than those produced 10, 20 years ago and this derives from strategies of planned obsolescence that have more to do with economic aspects and business, what else? The reality of the case is that those famous 10 years of expiration in many cases are becoming even a few months of useful life after which the PPE has to be withdrawn due to poor condition.
A RECYCLING PROPOSAL
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An option that for a few years we have included in the environmental policies of the IWR Academy is to recycle PPE, giving it basically different purposes than the original ones. While on the one hand there are some attachments that can easily be reused once broken down (as in the case of metal connectors that generally have no useful life) and re-cataloged in internal management systems (supported by their documentation), there are also categories of PPE (ropes, tapes, etc.) that can be used for handling limited loads (transportation of small materials) for a time greater than its useful life. There are also a series of very vast possibilities to give the equipment a decorative purpose, as in the case of the flowerpot hulls that at IWR Academy served to decorate the green areas. Another thing that we implemented (perhaps more difficult for other types of users), is a quarantine system where PPE removed from the practice and process area is accumulated, so that they can be used during destructive tests and equipment inspection courses with the purpose to strengthen the internal didactic and research scheme. In addition to clarifying that the security policies indicated by the manufacturers and that imply destruction are referenced to the previous phase of its elimination (not so much the removal), the most important thing of all is to always guarantee that this equipment is removed from the areas and processes where work is carried out at heights and in addition to that, it is good practice to re-label them with safety indications regarding the prohibition of use with people and high loads.
CONCLUSION
While equipment with better and better performance is produced from (partially) clean energy and (partly) recycled raw materials, its useful life is constantly lowered by an economic-commercial scheme and this is reflected in more garbage for public landfills. , most of which, it is good to remember, do not have the capacity to recycle: it is clear that this scheme will never work to reduce plastic pollution. On the other hand, in the personal protection equipment industry to date, the issue of improving and substituting plastic polymers with other types of more modern or recyclable fibers (which could surely be more effective solutions) has not yet been addressed, being that in this field there are great challenges such as the resistance of plant-based biopolymers, the elimination of other fibers such as aramidic fibers (which present practically the same problem as plastics), the improvement and eventual reintroduction of other options for environment friendly materials like hemp, leather, etc. Considering that the use of PPE is linked to safety strategies that are very often carried out by specialists who also have notions and knowledge, not to say responsibilities, towards the environment (as in the case of preventionists and HSE who also cover environmental needs), perhaps this is one of the industries where these changes could be promoted in a more significant and forceful way, of course starting by making them more known and sensitive than they are today. Perhaps before addressing those great challenges of substitution and creation of more environmentally friendly raw materials, we could at least demand the moderation of those planned obsolescence schemes that affect Planet Earth so much.
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Author: Franco Grasso
Director of the IWR Academy and Ronin Lift Mexico
Head of the Birta Moles Vertical Rescue Area
Director of the National School of Mountaineering and Alpine Rescue ItalianTREK
CTS-AIOLaF - STPS - CE - OSHA - SPRAT - IRATA - ISA - GWO - ARIM-CONACYT - RENEC-CONOCER – ITRA
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