ABSTRACT

Government policies that apply social movement movements to break the chain of spreading the spread
of covid-19 have a negative impact on businesses in various sectors that are facing the economy, millions
of workers are vulnerable to losing their jobs and experiencing layoffs. Meanwhile, the consumption of
single-use plastic waste in the community has increased sharply. At youth this is an excuse not to be
productive. During the Covid-19 pandemic, people were more creative in innovating so that there
were many opportunities to improve the community's economy. One of the opportunities comes
from waste, although using plastic as a basic material, plastic waste recycling creations can be
made into handicrafts such as decorative plant pots, shopping bags, wallets, etc. So, not only saving
the environment. Waste as a creative product, the creation of plastic waste that has high economic value
and can improve the economic situation in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. The activity of recycling
plastic waste as plant pots is carried out on Sundays, January 31, 2021, 09.00-12.30 at the
Secretariat of the Youth Organization, Kemuning Village, RT.17 RW.04 Banjarbaru Selatan. The
targets of this event are children and adolescents. From this activity it can become one of the community
empowerment movements and expand employment opportunities and open the possibility of increasing
the welfare of the community in the Village of Kemuning RT.17 RW.04 during the covid-19
pandemic.

Introduction

The single used face mask demands in the market are increasing rapidly due to Covid19
pandemic. According to Crismundo Kris (2020) "In the Philippines the capacity to produce face
mask now reaches to 25 million from 7 to 8 million combined capacities of MedTecs and
Yokoisada" Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said.
While getting a high number of productions of the product it also has a negative effect in any
part of the environment and in the ecosystem. The DENR-NCR said that the public health crisis
brought by the Covid19 has added a new item on types of waste that end up in Manila Bay,
which is the used face mask. Those discarded surgical face mask could be a threat both long term
and short term because of the material used is a polypropylene (PP) which is a type of
commodity plastic that takes a long period of time to degrade and releases its toxic substances.
This problem was also a threat in marine life, wild life and in the community if not dispose
properly. The propose study might contribute new insights about transforming the waste into a
good products. This research is worth doing because it may help to reduce the environmental
impact of single use face mask waste in the community by converting it into a flower pot.