Pollution is a decrease in environmental quality caused by the entry of pollutants into the environment. Pollution can occur in all parts of the environment. The consequences of pollution can also be categorized based on the severity and lightness of the disturbance in the structure of the environment. WHO categorizes heavy pollution into 3 levels; the first level is if the pollution causes irritation or disturbance of the five senses.
Furthermore, if it interferes with the body's physiological processes, the pollution can already be categorized at the second level. While the pollution that causes death is the third level of pollution. Air pollution according to the World Health Organization (WHO) is the biggest cause of health problems in the world. At least every year the number of victims who die from air pollution reaches 6.5 million people.
Carrying out activities using masks is an example of an effort to prevent bad health conditions. However, this brings the phenomenon of accumulation of waste and results in environmental pollution due to accumulation of waste, especially the waste of disposable masks.
This condition is increasingly becoming a new threat of environmental pollution with the existence of a pandemic condition and an appeal to wear a mask which has later become a lifestyle for humans throughout the region.
One of the right solutions is to implement a Green Economic System which has an important role as a system that helps in reducing production processes and excessive consumption practices with limited resources, besides helping in reducing the amount of production of non-biodegradable and biodegradable waste which is a source of pollution. (Economics & Business, 2019).
Resource Efficiency which is the impact of the application of the green economy is guided by the process of resource utilisation and the value of the resulting function.
The Green Economy provides a macro-economic approach to sustainable economic growth with a primary focus on investment, employment and skills. To realize a green economy and a circular economy, a symbiosis between industries is needed (Lahane and Kant, 2022).
Industrial ecologists use the analogy that “nothing is wasted in nature” to presuppose that the waste of one factory can be an asset to another manufacturing unit (Tao et al., 2019). Sophisticated symbiosis is a way for businesses and organizations traditionally to collaborate on improving existing systems (Venus et al., 2017).
Long-term planning, maintenance, repair, reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling can help create a green economy. The United Nations defines a "green economy system" as a system in which products and services are exchanged in a closed system or cycle with the aim of maintaining the maximum value of products, parts, materials and resources (UN, 2019).
In the risk of accumulation of disposable mask waste that disrupts environmental conditions, this effort can be applied with several examples of activities. The steps that need to be considered are of course starting from the production system, this is related to the raw materials used with consideration of the function value and environmental losses related to its implementation.
The next step is also related to an organized waste reuse strategy, especially production parties who can carry out waste reuse campaigns by collecting used waste so that they can make waste into new raw materials for a new product that helps other producers according to a circular green economy system. All activities are long-term plans that are synonymous with a green economy system which is especially useful for the surrounding environment.
