Recycling Your Disposable Masks

It is estimated that as many as 129 billion disposable face masks could be thrown away every month, harming biodiversity, the economy, and our health. When you purchase our masks (N95, FDA Listed Mask with KN95 Protection, FDA Listed KF94 Mask, FDA Listed 4-Ply Mask, Printed Mask with KN95 Protection, FDA Listed X Small masks and, 3-ply) we will provide you with an easy way to return used masks for recycling.

Now, in addition to recycling your VIDA masks, we will also accept other disposable masks when you send them back along with your VIDA masks. Send us as many as you like. Just follow the instructions below when returning your masks.

Please note: In accordance with legal guidelines, we cannot accept medical waste, such as material contaminated with blood or bodily fluids or wastes from healthcare facilities, hospitals, home care, doctors' offices, dental offices, blood banks, veterinary clinics, research laboratories, etc. We also cannot accept fabric, homemade, or paper masks.

*UK Customers: Please contact us at [e-mail] with your order number to request a return label to return masks for recycling.

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How does it work?

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Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can I recycle this product at my local recycling service?
   
   • No. Due to regulations, VIDA masks (N95s, FDA Listed Mask with KN95 Protection, FDA Listed KF94 Mask, FDA Listed 4-Ply Mask and, Sustainable 3-Ply Masks) cannot be recycled through your own municipal collection service, but only through this mail-back program.
2. How do I recycle my product safely?
   
   • Please place the used masks back in the envelope they arrived in, and place the pre-paid return shipping label over the original label on the envelope.
3. How are these masks safely recycled?
   
   • These are made of virgin plastics only and the materials will be decontaminated and separated to flow into normal processes for plastic recycling. They will be made into low-end industrial products (for example, shipping pallets). They will not be used to make other masks.
4. What do I do if I have lost my mailer or return label?
   
   • If you have lost your original mailer, please use any other envelope/mailer to return your masks to us using the provided return label. If you have lost your return label, you can directly request here: https://shopvida.com/pages/sustainability-disposable-mask-recycling-program. Simply enter your full name and email address. The label will be directly sent to your registered email address. Each label is good for up to 50 masks. If you will be sending more, you can fill out the web form multiple times to generate more labels as needed otherwise, you can reach also out to us at [e-mail] and we'd be glad to assist you.
5. Are international orders eligible for the recycling program?

• • No, we only accept domestic orders for our recycling program, except for UK customers where we have a  warehouse. The carbon footprint for recycling international orders in the USA would be worse than recycling it in your home country. 
    
    If you are an international customer who wants to recycle your mask, you will need to research recycling companies in your country to see if there are options for you to recycle your face masks safely. UK Customers: Please contact us at [e-mail] with your order number to request a return label to return masks for recycling.

6. Why do you ask your customers to ship the masks for recycling using drop-off-box-only locations instead of inside the post office over-the-counter scan?

• • We want our recycling program to be as accessible and sustainable as we can which is why we opt for the drop-off- box-only USPS service. The over-the-counter scan is a different service and is more expensive. If we choose the more expensive service, the program will get more costly and less sustainable for us to maintain in the long run. Unfortunately, recycling masks are more expensive than the actual cost of product material. This means we are spending about 3% of our profit to run this program—which is quite substantial.

7. How or where do you recycle your masks?

• • Our Recycling Process has changed. We are no longer sending it to Terracycle to become low-end industrial products (for example, shipping pallets) instead, it'll be collected at our VIDA warehouse and will be forwarded locally to be made into 3D printer filament to come up with more useful products. 

8. I am a non-VIDA customer, can I still send the used masks for recycling?

• • Yes, this program is provided free of charge to all our VIDA customers. For non-VIDA customers, there is a fee based on the weight or quantity of the items. This fee is solely for covering the costs of shipment and recycling processes; we do not make any profit from it.
    
    

If you have any questions, please contact us here for more information.