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Art & Culture

Hong Kong’s First biodegradable medical mask
Harbour City x reMatter launches Pop up Store

05 Nov, 2021

Sustainable development is a top priority for Harbour City. The mall has continuously contributed over the past years to become environmentally friendly and sustainable through building comprehensive green facilities, including installing solar panels and solar-powered water heating system on the rooftop of office towers, waste recycling bins and environmental smart water station inside the mall, and food waste decomposer and glass bottle recycling bins for our F&B outlets to encourage people to live a green life.

Global demand for masks has soared over the past two years.  According to the research of ACS Publications in 2020, 129 billion face masks are used worldwide every month (3 million per minute). However, masks on the market are generally made of plastic materials like polypropylene which take more than 400 years to decompose. On top of that, microplastics from the masks continue to contaminate the soil and the ocean.  To encourage people to reduce harm to the environment while protecting themselves, Harbour City is collaborating with local brand “reMatter” to launch a pop up store for Hong Kong’s first highly biodegradable 3-layer medical mask. The mask by reMatter is priced around the same as normal disposable masks in the market and we hope to encourage customers to use this new type of mask.

Completely decomposed after 5 years

Mr. Alex Lee, the founder of reMatter and his team utilized advanced technologies and successfully produced masks and packaging materials from biodegradable materials*. Discarded reMatter masks will undergo biodegradation and completely decompose into water, carbon dioxide and other non-toxic gases after being sent to the landfill. The reMatter mask has received an internationally-recognised green certificate issued by Intertek. The experiment proves that the mask can decompose more than 15% in 90 days**, while the mask can be completely decomposed after 5 years.

Patented arc design with green packaging

The reMatter mask has patented embossed design of arc dotted line to help customers wear the mask properly and to provide superior protection. There are two stylish colors – white and mint green for selection. What’s more, from biodegradable individual mask plastic bags, bamboo-made paper package boxes to zero printing on the packaging, reMatter creates a sustainable and eco-friendly system. On top of the packaging, a stylish handle is added for carrying the mask without a paper bag. Both the mask and the packaging are made in Hong Kong, which further reduces carbon emission.

Biodegradable medical 3-layer mask meets ASTM Level 3

Hong Kong’s first biodegradable medical 3-layer mask also meets the anti-epidemic level of ASTM Level 3 in the United States and the standard of EN14683 Type IIR in the European Union. The production facility complies with ISO14644 Cleanroom and ISO13485 Quality Management for Medical Devices Standard. The BFE and VFE filtration rates of masks are both 99%. The reMatter mask protects everyone’s health while benefiting the ecological environment.

Harbour City X reMatter Mask Pop up store

Date: From now till 31 May 2022

Address: VITA Lobby, Level 2, Gateway Arcade, Harbour City (near shop GW 2219-20 I.T)

Opening Hour: 10am – 8pm

Design: All Right (white) / Greeny (mint green)

Price: $128/box (30 individually wrapped masks)

reMatter website: https://shop.rematter.hk/

* All 3 layers of the mask, the nose piece (except the metal part) and the mask plastic bag are made with biodegradable materials.

** According to Intertek, the 90-day decomposition rate reaches 15.8%.