The associations reply that it would have been up to Arcuri to guarantee the necessary quantities of masks, as well as contesting the very choice of setting a price ceiling: a strategy that, according to the associations, would have diverted international exporters to markets with more profit margins. The original reason for the shortage of devices, at this stage, turns out to be the discrepancy between the availability of masks declared by pharmacists and those that are truly marketable: out of a theoretical stock of 12 million, a total of 9 million pieces are blocked because imported from China without European certification.
The stall will unlock with a new agreement between the parties and the entry into operation of a more impressive production, in Italy and abroad. But the problems are far from exhausted and also border on judicial investigations. On the one hand, the race for the production of masks, with the ad hoc conversion of companies in other sectors, does not always guarantee the required quality: an Inail monitoring reveals, at the beginning of May 2020, that just 4% of the processed masks were compliant and usable on the market. On the other hand, the shortage of devices favors the emergence in record time of a “secondary market” with unreliable products, if not cases of fraud or illegal speculation.
There are several seizures or stock blocks of masks without certification, generally imported from abroad and in particular from China. Arcuri himself will also end up in the crosshairs of the investigators, now replaced in his role by General Francesco Paolo Figliuolo. In an investigation by the Rome Public Prosecutor’s Office on a 1.25 billion euro contract with three Chinese consortia, intended for the supply of about 800 million masks in February 2021, Arcuri is entered in the register of suspects on charges of embezzlement. The former Commissioner replies that he “knows nothing”.
And now? From resource to problem. Ecological
After the initial chaos, with the aftermath having repercussions today, the availability of masks has become a matter of routine. But more than one question is already looming about what will come next, on a side that was muted in the first months of the pandemic: the environmental impact of billions of devices bought and used every day. Although “bio” and recyclable models have emerged, the most widespread product remains surgical masks: disposable, intended for undifferentiated collection and therefore, as a rule, for landfills, incinerators or waste-to-energy plants. What volumes are we talking about? Ispra, the higher institute for environmental protection and research, has estimated only for 2020 a quantity of material ranging from 160 thousand to 440 thousand tons.
On a global scale, some reports speak of an average of 129 billion masks used every month. The obligation to wear it outside will expire on June 28, but that of always having one available will remain intact and everything suggests that the complete farewell to devices will be anything but immediate. Also because the proliferation of variants is creating new fears, perhaps with repercussions on the “free all” climate that was widely inaugurated with the first easing of the tightening on April 26, 2021. The use of new masks will mean burdening the environmental balance or, vice versa, making a strategy to dispose of the huge stocks of devices produced and “consumed” on a daily basis more urgent. On this front, the post-Covid has already begun.