Unmasking COVID-19: Comparative Analysis of Mask Usage andEnvironmental Impact in Asia
Chang Liua,b , Chen Liub,* and Yasuhiko HottabaSchool of Economics and Management, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
bSustainable Consumption and Production Area, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, 2108-11 Kamiyamaguchi, Hayama 240-0115, Japan* Corresponding author: c-liu@iges.or.jp

Introduction

Aim

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased the demand for face masks.
Understanding usage patterns, influencing factors, and assessing environmental impacts
across areas is vital for creating sustainable mask usage policies. This study examines
mask usage in six Asian areas across distinct pandemic phases (pre-COVID-19,COVID-19, and the new normal). It evaluates the environmental impact of disposable
Foodsurgicalwaste has become
a globalpressing
issue masks,
in recent years.
In China, thecarbon
issue of foodfootprints,
waste has become
increasinglysevere. As a provincial
masks
and
cloth
coveringwater
footprints,
solid
capital city, Harbin is also a major agricultural city in China with distinct urban and rural features. In this article, we use Harbin as a case study towaste,andmicroplasticpollution.
results
indicateduringtheCOVIDevaluate
different
strategies
for preventing andreducing foodThewasteresearchbased on theseurban-ruraldifferences.that
The article
is basedon official
data onhousehold food waste in urban and rural areas of Harbin, as well as 333 telephone survey data collected through stratified random sampling.
19 period,
there analysis
was aofsharp
mask
usage,
followeda decrease
infollowed
the new
Independentt-tests, one-way
variance increase(ANOVA), andin
logistic
regression
analysis
were used toby
analyze
the survey databy areview
of existingphase,food wastealthoughpolicies and strategies.
Our findings
show thatthan
Harbin has
shown
a positive responselevels.
in adheringFurthermore,to the national antinormalitremained
higherthepre-pandemic
food waste policies. However, the implementation has not been effective. There is a continuous increase in food waste generation. Moreover, theaverage
daily amountof foodwaste generated
by urban households
is 3216.31g,
is 2.4 times thatof rural households,
and there areage andgendercommonlyinfluence
the usageof whichdisposable
surgicalface masks,
withdifferences in the causes of food waste between urban and rural residents due to different diets and eating habits. As a result, feasible and effective
educational
level havinghave
themostprominent
on clothfacemask
usage, followed
policy recommendations
been
proposed
to reduce foodimpact
waste in responseto theseurban-ruraldifferences.
by age and income. Disposable surgical masks have a greater environmental impact, but
replacing them with cloth masks may reduce carbon emissions, waste, and microplastic
pollution. However, it might increase water resource usage. Based on these findings, thestudy provides comprehensive policy recommendations related to mask usage anddisposal.

(1) Understanding the usage patterns of disposable surgical face masks and cloth facemasks
differentof COVID-19.
od waste in
betweenurban andphases
rural residents
due to different diets and eating habits. As a result, feasible and effective policy recommendations
have been proposed to reduce food waste in response to these urban-rural differences.
(2) Analyze the influence of personal characteristics on the use of two types of masks.
(3) Estimate the environmental impact assessment of the two types of masks.

Materials and Methods
Data: This study leverages survey data encompassing mask usage covered six areas
across five countries: Shanghai (SH) and Harbin (HRB) in China, the Philippines (PH),Food waste has become a global pressing issue in recent years. In China, the issue of food waste has become increasingly severe. As aHanoi(HAN)
in isVietnam,
Phnomcity Penh(PNH)
in Cambodia,andDepok
provincial capitalcity, Harbin
also a major agriculturalin China with
distinct urban
and rural features. In
this article,
we use(DP)Harbin asina casestudy to evalData and information for estimating FW trends in Harbinuate different strategies for preventing and reducing food waste based onIndonesia,
with 1870 questionnaires collected.
these urban-rural differences. The article is based on official data on household food waste in urban and rural areas of Harbin, as well as 333
telephone survey dataTwo-factor
collected through ANOVA,stratified random
sampling.and
Independentt-tests,regression
one-way analysisanalysis.
of variance (ANOVA), and logistic
Methodology:
T-test,Poissonregression analysis were used to analyze the survey data followed by a review of existing food waste policies and strategies. Our findings showthat Harbin has shownThea positive
response in adheringmainly
to the nationalanti-food waste
policies.
However,the implementation
not been
Questionnaire:questionnaire
consistsof twoparts.
The
first parthas
coverseffective. There is a continuous increase in food waste generation. Moreover, the average daily amount of food waste generated by urban
thebasicis 3216.31g,
characteristicsof thattheof rural
respondents,
includinggender,age,area,
education
households
which is 2.4 times
households, and there
are differencesin the causesof foodwaste between
urban andrural residents due to different diets and eating habits. As a result, feasible and effective policy recommendations have been proposed to reducelevel,and monthly household
amongothers.
The
second part focuses on mask
foodincome,waste in responseto theseurban-ruraldifferences.
usage, including the quantities of sigle-use surgical face masks and cloth face masks
used during the periods before COVID-19, during COVID-19, and in the new normal.

Results

The results of respondent
characteristics in the survey
questionnaire are presented inFigure 1, while mask usage isdepicted in Figure 2 and Figure 3.

Figure 5. Urban-rural differences in mask usage.
* indicates significance at the 95% confidence.
** indicates significance at the 99% confidence.

Figure 1. Characteristics of respondents.
(SH-Shanghai; PNH-Phnom Penh; HRB-Harbin; HAN-Hanoi; PH-Philippines; DP-Depok; N.S.-Noschooling; P.S.-Primary school; L.S.S.-Lower secondary school; H.S.-High school; V.T.U.-Vocationalor technical university; Univ.-University; M.D.+-Master’s degree or higher)

The t-test results in Figure 5 determine the statistical significance of urban-ruraldifferences in mask usage across different regions. Before COVID-19, there were no
significant urban-rural differences in the usage of both types of face masks across thesix areas. However, during COVID-19 and in the new normal, different areas
exhibited varying urban-rural disparities in the usage of the two types of face masks.
Table 1. Empirical results of the significance of factors
affecting mask usage.

Table 2. The environmental impact generated by masks
over a year.

Figure 2. Single-use surgical face masks usage.

Table 3. The changes in the environmental impact ofmasks.

Figure 3. Cloth face masks usage.

Figure 4. Average number of mask usage in different areas.
** indicates significance at the 99% confidence.

The two-way ANOVA results provide
valuable insights into face mask usage（Figure 4). There are significant
differences in the usage of single-use
surgical face masks and cloth face masks
among areas, with notable disparities in theusage of single-use surgical face masks
during various phases of COVID-19 but nosignificant differences observed in cloth
face mask usage. This might be attributed
to the better protective properties of singleuse surgical face masks compared to cloth
face masks against COVID-19.

Table 2 displays the annual environmental
impact resulting from single-use surgical andPoisson regression analysis, summarized incloth face mask usage. Replacing single-use
Table 1, investigated factors influencing
surgical face masks with cloth face masks
face mask usage. In all models, chiwould result in a substantial reduction insquared test p-values were below 0.05,
carbon footprint, solid waste, andsignifying a highly significant statistical
microplastics. However, it would lead to an
distinction between observed data and the increase in the water footprint (Table 3).
independence assumption.

Conclusions
This study utilized survey data to analyze the usage patterns of single-use surgical face masks and cloth face masks across six Asian areas. Individual characteristics affecting mask
usage patterns were analyzed, and an estimation of the environmental impact of mask usage was conducted. Based on the research findings, relevant recommendations have been
proposed, including establishing an environmentally-friendly mask supply chain, promoting sustainable mask use, and implementing awareness campaigns for proper masks
selection and usage among specific demographic groups. These findings guide a balance between health and environmental concerns for more sustainable development.