Millions of FFP1 and FFP2 masks stored in the Gironde have recently been destroyed due to exceeding their expiration date.
Unusable, they were thrown in the trash: 100 million expired masks, coming from strategic state stocks, were recently destroyed in Gironde, relationships Southwest. Imported from China, these FFP1 and FFP2 masks were purchased by France at the beginning of the health crisis to build up strategic stocks. They were then recovered by 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 high schools at the start of the year. But the health constraints are lightened and, in the spring, no more school demands. The boxes of unused masks then accumulate in the Canéjan warehouses and the very short expiration date is exceeded in the summer, leaving National Education with millions of expired masks on its hands. It is “impossible to give them” due to the expiry of the term, assures the ministry.
Another 60 million masks
Asked by Southwest, which has detected significant movements of heavy equipment leaving these warehouses, the National Department of 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 by April 2023 at the latest are still stored in another warehouse. But the ministry intends to keep them in case of a return to the mask obligation.
