The team from Universitas Ahmad Dahlan (UAD) students won the gold medal in World Youth Invention and Innovation Award (WYIIA) and Doza Srekja Macedonia Special Award. The team was led by Imam Mahdi, the 2021 Chemical Engineering student with Yolanda Waldatul Marwa, the 2020 Chemical Engineering student, Rini Suphia Nuryati (the 2020 Physics student), Asna Adira Finan (the 2020 Physics), and Annas Putra Maulana (the 2021 Physics student) as the members. They were supervised by Adi Permadi, S.T., M.T., M.Farm., Ph.D. The International contest was conducted in Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, Monday-Friday (22-26/08) followed by 254 teams from 26 different countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Uni Emirat Arab, South Korea, Turkiye, Brazil, Montenegro, India, Mexico, Qatar, South Africa, and many other countries.
The team raised “Paving from Used-Masks is an Alternative Solution for Reducing Environmental Harm”. Paving, in this term, is an eco-friendly pavement due to the face mask waste, plastic, and seashells as the main composition.
The research was from the concern of the economic growth and people quantity that affects the increase of face mask waste, especially in the pandemic era. “During the research, we use the face mask waste that has been washed with detergent. After it is dried, it burns. The seashells, it is cleaned and finely chopped, and ground. The mixture will be processed with cement and water. Mix it evenly and after that, it is pressed in paving block mold,” Anas, one of the members, said.
He continued that they required twelve hours to dry the waste to make a strong paving block. It needs to prepare face mask waste, seashells, water, cement, and sand. It also needs a cement mixer, paving block mold, and scissors. The UAD team was expected to create economic development in climate change. Through the paving block produced from face mask waste, they can establish a collaboration in reaching SGDs (Sustainable Development Goals) or sustainable construction.
