SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Greenhouse gas emitted during the production of face masks may reach up to 1,000 tons per day, a government report said Monday.
The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission conducted a survey of 1,215 people, who said they used one new face mask every 2.3 days on average.
Supposing there are 51 million people in South Korea, the daily usage of masks would exceed 20 million per day and 7.3 billion per year.
An articled published in the journal Environmental Challenges last April estimated that producing a single N95 respirator mask, which is similar to the KF94 medical masks commonly worn in South Korea, results in the emission of 50 grams of greenhouse gas.
Considering the number of masks used in the country and the estimated amount of greenhouse gas emissions, more than 1,000 tons of greenhouse gas is emitted in the production of facial masks each day, or 365,000 tons per year.
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