In 2019, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) occurred in the world. As the situation became more serious, people wore face masks to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Face masks are part of our daily lives during the pandemic. Many of them are designed to be used once, meaning thousands of tonnes of waste.
Every month, about 129 billion disposable masks are now being consumed worldwide. They have worsened the plastic pollution in the world’s landfills and oceans. Disposable masks contain plastics that pollute water and can harm wildlife that eat them or become tangled.
To solve these issues, we designed a creative and holistic integrated recycling system to solve the wastage problem caused by the improper disposal of single-use face masks.
Project at IIDC (International Integrated Design Camp) 2020
Aug 2020
UX Desginer
2 UX Designers
5 Industrial Designers
This project is a part of IIDC (International Integrated Design Camp) held by Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP)↗️ with the theme of "Design Against Pandemic".
IIDC 2020 consisted of 11 teams, totalling 63 students from 38 universities in 16 countries, as well as 13 experts (tutors) from 12 different companies and institutions. Company associations of the tutors included Google (US), BMW Designworks (Germany), and forpeople (UK).
Contactless way to safely dispose of used masks in a way that rewards while also giving the masks a purposeful second life. Fun and approachable in a pandemic era of pessimism and uncertainty.
1
- Check your collect masks and rewards so far.
- Get refund with your collected masks.
2
- Enjoy shopping DIY Kits and make your own DIY products.
- Get discount with your collected masks and rewards.
3
- Find the vending machine near you with the app.
- Scan QR code on the machine with the app.
Fun, optimistic and engaging DIY projects that reinforce sustainable values and a unique approach to prevent an improper disposal of used masks.
Awarded and displayed at the Design Korea Festival 2020↗️ funded by the Korean government and the Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP), and cooperated with Samsung, World Design Organization, LG Electronics, etc.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant increase in the use of disposable masks, and this has raised concerns about the potential impact on the environment. Disposed masks can contribute to plastic waste, as most masks are made from synthetic materials that do not easily biodegrade.
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We conducted user surveys to understand people's perception of the reality of used masks and the problem of disposable masks. By integrating the survey results, we were able to scope the problem space and target the user groups.
One of the biggest concerns that people have expressed is the safety of used masks. Due to the potential for contamination with the virus, many people worry about the risk of infection when handling or disposing of used masks.
Addressing the safety concern must be the initial focus of any solution. If a solution doesn't give people a sense of safety, people will feel rejected.
Many people are unaware of the environmental impact of disposable masks, as well as the potential benefits of mask recycling in mitigating this impact.
Educating the public on the environmental impact of disposable masks and the benefits of mask recycling is crucial to promoting more sustainable practices.
The materials used in disposable masks, such as polypropylene and other synthetic fabrics, are not typically considered high-value materials in the recycling industry due to their low economic value and limited potential for reuse.
Implementing smaller-scale solutions, such as encouraging individuals to properly dispose of masks and promoting the use of reusable masks, can still have a significant positive impact. We can focus more on how to bring emotional and educational value.
"How might we create a holistic and safe system that addresses the issue of massive waste generated by the disposal of face masks, while also providing educational and beneficial outcomes?"
Our research shows that people are worried about the increasing amount of discarded disposable masks and how it will affect environment, but they don't seem to know how to deal with it. Based on the fact that environmental protection in groups can have a greater impact than individuals, we created Persona in consideration of the fact that family units can be good target users.
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We brainstormed possible solution ideas. We put tons of sketches in Miro and grouped similar ideas together. After grouping, there were three main ideas that we wanted to explore further. SWOT analysis for each idea was conducted to select ideas.
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How can we provide people with safe solutions without concerns about the risk of infection?
How can we increase the participation rate of our solution?
Can our solutions trigger positive emotions in people in the era of depressing pandemic?
Exploring various early sketches and considerations, we decided to move forward with the integrated solution which combines all the ideas above. We understand each solution idea has strengths and tried to figure it out how to come up with the solution of combination of all of the strengths.
We decided to design a reverse vending machine, considering safety concerns and the fact that it is more suitable for large mask disposal. The machine separates, sterilizes, and pulverizes the mask and returns particles of plastic materials. Users can get rewards and purchase DIY kits through the connected app and create small but useful products with the kits and the returned materials.
Providing safe and easy way to dispose of masks. Returning the refined, useful materials for people.
Let people feel responsible by giving them firsthand experience of recycling and rewarding them.
DIY experience for the public to creatively repurpose the material as fun, novel and useful products.
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The reverse vending machine has a QR code on the front for the scan with the connected app. The vending machine should have the functions of sterilization and shredding. The user can get sterilized, refined particles from the vending machine and can use them to make a small DIY product.
1. Approach to the vending machine
2. Put the mask
3. Shred and sterilize the mask
4. Get the mask pieces
The reason for making this prototype was to experience the process of making useful items using the masks which is the overall purpose of the project. It was also because we had to know what the results of our project would look like and what people will experience in the process of making it. We made a small DIY mockup with resin and shredded mask pieces. We could control the resin setting time by the proportion of the fixative.
Users can use the app to get rewards (points) by scanning the QR code on the reverse vending machine after putting on the used masks. Users can get a discount with points when buying a DIY kit on the DIY shop in the app. It has many other features as well to connect the user and the reverse vending machine.
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💡 Collaboration with people of various backgrounds.
It was not only about learning a holistic design process but an opportunity to work together with various people from different background. We all have a different background such as engineering, industrial design and UX design and even our nationalities were different like South Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Australia. It was such a wonderful experiences to work with different people. It was my first time collaborating with an industrial design major, and for me, who liked design and learning, the process of collaborating with industrial design team members was enjoyable and I could learn many new things.
💡 Make the world a better place.
The greatest part of this project was that we enjoyed the project itself. In this pandemic, we were happy that we tried to create something useful for human kind. Although we know that our project may be difficult to realize in reality due to various constraints, it was a project that started with the hope that our project would actually be realized in the near future and solve the problem of disposable masks around the world. This project made me more interested in understanding and solving problems in the world.
💡 Cooperation in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The camp, which was held during the Pandemics season due to COVID-19, was held online. All meetings, except field trips and 3D prototyping, were conducted online (mostly through Zoom and MIRO), and so sometimes there were misunderstandings between each other. But for about two weeks, we gradually learned how to collaborate and work with colleagues in this pandemic era. I think it was a good opportunity to learn directly how to collaborate with colleagues even through online.
💡 As a team leader.
I was the team leader of Team 8 from the start. Obviously, it was never easy to pull people from different backgrounds, including nationality and major, into one team. However, all the team members faithfully performed their duties in the fields they could do, making it relatively easy to lead the team in a good direction. I think this good teamwork, along with good project results, contributed to displaying the project at the DK festival. Once again, thank the team members for working together on the project.
