Surgical masks made with coffee filters. The idea of a German company

Melitta masks made with the coffee filters

One million masks have already been manufactured, an uninterrupted production line that aims to shortly reach one million pieces per day to help solve the Covid-19 emergency and make up for the lack of protective masks, often out of stock or available only after a long wait. Enter the Melitta project, by a German coffee filter manufacturer that started making masks in early April: "For decades, our company specialized in the development of filter materials such as those for coffee, but also other materials made of non-woven fabric," said Jero Bentz, a member of the Group's management team. "With our production capacity, we are able to make a considerable quantity of masks in a short time".

Protective masks made with coffee filters

Although the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control have not provided any specific guidance on the use of coffee filters, these are proving to be effective materials for creating an additional filtering layer in homemade protective masks. Thus, the company began producing them in the classic cone shaped form used for the preparation of beverages, capable of protecting both nose and mouth. These are products composed of three layers of non-woven fabric, which include a layer of meltblown non-woven fabric, essential for production of protective masks because it corresponds to the standards of surgical masks with a bacterial filtration efficiency that's greater than 95%. "In this first phase, the masks are fastened with a clip or elastic bands", specified Melitta, manifesting the will to intensify and expand the production.

Masks made with coffee filters also in the United States

The first to benefit from the invention will be the employees at work in the factories and companies that have remained open during lockdown, while doctors and health personnel will receive 1 million free masks in the various structures after careful consultation with the government. And this applies for the moment only in the German plants: the Melitta factories in the United States and Brazil will also be activated soon, to increase production and also help other countries. "We are convinced that together we can do a lot, and thus contribute to the safety of people, somewhat alleviating the inconvenience caused by the restrictions due to Covid-19".

by Michela Becchi