Over the past year, we have asked ourselves the environmental impact that disposable masks have. The answer is not positive. As medical waste, they cannot be recycled by traditional methods and often the only way to dispose of them is by incineration.

To limit waste and exploit its “creative” potential, designer Tobia Zambotti has designed Couch-19, a modular pouf made of PVC and padded with masks collected from the inhabitants of Perg Valsugana and Trento, previously sanitised with nitrogen. The project touches on different aspects linked to the climate crisis: from the recycling and reuse of the devices to the active involvement of citizens in waste collection and the emblematic shape of the pouf, which resembles an iceberg, the symbol of global warming.