The Easy2reUse consortium convened for a three‑day meeting in Alicante, Spain, bringing together international partners, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and technical experts to advance the development and market readiness of a reusable respiratory protection mask for healthcare settings. The meeting focused on regulatory frameworks, user experience, cleaning and decontamination processes, and progress across all project work packages. The discussions strengthened cross‑consortium collaboration and provided valuable insights into hospital practices and pandemic preparedness, particularly from the Spanish context.
Easy2reUse project is a four-year project started in September 2025 and has been funded by EU together with nine partners: LUT, LAB, FISABIO, UCLouvain, FIOH, TalTech, KTU, TBU, BCNHealth, in cooperation with two associated partners: HUS and NESA.
Day before start, 23th March 2026: Get-together
The unofficial part of the event started by gathering at Dr. Balmis University General Hospital to go through the current tasks on ongoing issues of each seven work package. A good start for was created for the coming days.
Day1, 24th March 2026: Deepening understanding of use needs and healthcare context & Progress in mask design, technology, and cleaning solutions
A central objective of the Alicante meeting was to collect and reflect on healthcare professionals’ experiences and expectations related to reusable personal protective equipment (PPE). Presentations from Spanish hospitals and public health authorities highlighted lessons learned from the COVID‑19 pandemic, including PPE shortages, high infection rates among healthcare workers, and the need for nationally resilient production and supply chains.
Healthcare representatives from Ramón and Cajal Hospital, Dr. Balmis University General Hospital, and Public Health Alicante shared first‑hand experiences on procurement, stockpiling, and PPE reuse during crisis situations. These insights closely aligned with experiences reported in other participating countries, reinforcing the importance of developing safe, acceptable, and sustainable solutions for future health emergencies.
The consortium reviewed ongoing progress in reusable mask development. Partners presented the latest developments in mask design and materials, while also addressing current challenges encountered so far. An alternative sterilization approaches, using low‑temperature steam–formaldehyde as a contingency solution during PPE shortages was introduced by Jorge de Vicente Guijarro (Ramón and Cajal Hospital). In addition, cleaning and decontamination processes and procedures in local Spanish hospital was introduced by Malisa Carreras (Dr. Balmis University General Hospital).
Tour around the city was kindly hosted by Alicante City Council. We had the most enjoyable dinner at Hotel Amerigo.
Day 2, 25th October 2025: Cleaning solutions, regulation, certification and market readiness
Cleaning and decontamination remained a key focus of the presentations in the meeting. Easy2reUse experts reported strong progress under project, identifying hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) as an optimal low‑temperature sterilization method for reusable masks in hospital environment.
The meeting provided a shared understanding of Spanish and Finnish regulatory requirements for PPE, including certification, fit testing, and quality assurance. These discussions helped align regulatory perspectives across countries and clarified pathways toward market entry. Partners also examined institutional purchasing behavior, green public procurement, and barriers to adoption of reusable PPE. For example, training needs, logistics, and cleaning responsibilities were identified as critical factors influencing uptake in healthcare institutions.
Conclusions
We had most intensive three days in Alicante, where a compact program and good discussions rounded out the event. This face-to-face meeting emphasized particularly the importance of information dissemination. During our visit, we ate the most delicious food in the Alicante restaurants, getting glimpses of Spanish cuisine and flavors. We had a unique opportunity to get around the Alicante city, hear about the history and scan the human head formed on the mountain from different perspective.
We would thank Alicante City Council, Dr Belmis University General Hospital in Alicante, FISABIO and LUT to make all this happen. Especially, Jose Mira's group at Miguel Hernandez University is warmly acknowledged.