CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Most environmentalists would say there was a plastic waste problem before the pandemic, but with an increased need for personal protective gear and single-use packaging for sanitary reasons, researchers estimate the need has grown even more.
The plastic isolation gown has become one pillar of the pandemic response, ubiquitous at hospitals and COVID-19 testing centers.
After spending the early months of the pandemic procuring traditional plastic gowns for hospital systems in the Carolinas and seeing how much plastic it entailed, Jonathan Mustich, co-founder of Terraloam, decided there was a need to do things differently.
"In a normal year, just in medical gowns alone, it's 18 Empire State Buildings worth of landfill waste," Mustich said. "A traditional plastic gown can take over 400 years to break down. There needs to be a change in the world, in general, with the amount of plastics."
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, in 2018, 27 million tons of plastic went to landfills. Researchers estimate pandemic demands increased plastic use by 40% for packaging and close to 20% for other applications, including medical uses.
Mustich's epiphany on how to make a change came while in his garden. He sent the idea to his business partner, John Sharpe.
"It was raining. I went outside, and I noticed a water droplet on a broccoli plant," Mustich said. "If nature can block the water off the leaf, then, why can’t we create something using that as barrier protection for hospitals and staff?"
After lots of research, BioGown was born.
"It's a cornstarch and polymer base, and it will just degrade into the dirt and regenerate the soil," Mustich said.
The effort is local, too. Mustich said the FDA-approved gowns are sewn in North Carolina, composted in Matthews, and will eventually come full circle.
"Using a hot-composting method, we'll break those (gowns) down and create life-giving dirt, which hopefully within the next year or two, we will then use to grow more corn and use to make the next generation of the gowns," Mustich said.
The company is also using that compost to grow flowers, which it will donate to Matthews and area hospitals, and food.
Mustich said some hospitals, including FirstHealth of the Carolinas, are already showing interest.
"We're just trying to make a small switch that can make a big impact," Mustich said.
For more information on the gown, visit the BioGown website.
To contact Vanessa Ruffes, reach out on Facebook or Twitter, or via email at vruffes@wcnc.com.