Unusable, they were thrown in the trash: 100 million expired masks, from strategic state stocks, were recently destroyed in the Gironde, reports southwest. Imported from China, these FFP1 and FFP2 masks had been bought by France at the beginning of the health crisis to accumulate strategic stocks. They were then recovered by the National Education to equip school staff and stored in the warehouses of a logistics company in Canéjan, south of Bordeaux.
Of the 220 million masks stored in the Gironde, 120 million were distributed to schools, colleges and secondary schools at the beginning of the year. But the sanitary restrictions are eased and, in the spring, there are no more school complaints. The boxes of unused masks are then piled up in the Canéjan warehouses and in the summer the very short expiration date is exceeded, leaving National Education with millions of expired masks on its hands. And “impossible to give them” due to the expiration date, says the ministry.
Another 60 million masks
asked by southwest, which has verified significant movements of heavy vehicles leaving these warehouses, the Ministry of National Education has confirmed the destruction of 100 million expired masks in recent weeks. The expired masks were sent to the Gard, to the Chimirec factory, to be destroyed and transformed. In addition, 60 million masks that will expire no later than April 2023 are still stored in another warehouse. But the ministry intends to keep them in case the mandatory mask is worn again.
Source: BFM TV
