We have been used to wearing masks in public since CoVID-19 outbreak. About 300 million masks are used and then thrown away every day in China. Where do these used masks go？You might think that they just go into a garbage bin. But that's just the first stop on the masks' journey.
After the masks are thrown into bins. garbage trucks empty the bins and take the garbage to landfills（垃圾填理场）, Then, the masks will be poured into garbage incinerators（焚化炉）and burned. Burning masks might not seem to be very good for the environment. Will it cause any pollution？
According to People's Daily, the answer is "NO"! That's because most masks are made of non woven fabrics（无纺布）which is friendly to the environment. It can break down easily. After burning, it turns into water and carbon dioxide（二氧化碳）. As long as we deal with the emissions（排放）correctly, burning the masks won't cause pollution.
In fact, burning the masks can bring some benefits. For example, when the garbage is burning electricity can be made at the same time. Burning one ton of garbage can produce more than 400 kilowat（千瓦）hours of electricity. It is said that there will be 162, 000 tons of used masks in China this year. That means, burning them all can produce 64 million kilowatt hours of electricity. This is enough to allow an electric car to drive 370 million kilometers, which is 9, 250 times around the earth.
So burning the masks is environmentally friendly.
