Japan finds new uses for Covid-19 acrylic partitions

According to Asahi Shimbun, acrylic boards are considered industrial waste, so they cannot be tossed out with ordinary trash. PHOTO: AFP

Redundant acrylic partitions that were installed in almost every eatery, as well as classrooms in Japan, to protect people against the spread of the Covid-19 virus are being transformed into other objects to make them useful again.

According to the Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun, acrylic boards are considered industrial waste in the country, so they cannot be tossed out with ordinary rubbish. Local governments are usually consulted about services that can discard or recycle the partitions.

One company in Tokyo anticipated this problem and started buying up partitions at the end of 2022.

Midorikawa Chemical Industry Co, a wholesaler and recyler of acrylic panels, uses technology to crush the partitions, melt them and transform them into protective covers for information boards or for other protective purposes.

Students at Kindai University in Osaka prefecture converted partitions that were set up in classrooms to make cardholders, which were presented to 26 graduating students in March.

A student who was involved in the project said he had sought the help of a plastic developer and manufacturer to create the cardholders.

The students plan to turn more of such partitions into keychains and menu holders.

The acrylic panels are now an eyesore in the country, piling up and collecting dust in many eateries.

These barriers were removed even before the Japanese government downgraded the Covid-19 pandemic to category five under the infectious disease prevention law – the same level as seasonal influenza – on May 8.

Customers do not want the partitions on their tables, the Asahi Shimbun reported on Wednesday, and restaurant owners have no place to store them.

The owner of a restaurant in Tokyo’s Ueno district said 10 partitions are gathering dust in a corner of his establishment, which does not have a storage area.

“If we want to throw them away, we need the help of a waste processing agency,” he said.

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