Here's How The COVID-19 Pandemic Is Adding Fuel To The Plastic Pollution Fire

While on one hand, the world is scrambling to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, on the other there's the issue of single-use plastic that is back with full force owing to PPE requirements. Masks, gloves and face shields becoming a regular in the 'new normal' has inadvertently added to pressure on the environment, in the form of increased plastic pollution.

Facebook/LeoNotHappy

The rise in disposable face masks and gloves being used to prevent the spread of coronavirus is adding to the glut of plastic pollution. A wave of single-use masks and latex gloves is particularly problematic.

Amid the drastic lifestyle-changes caused by the pandemic, environmentalists have expressed concerns over the growing use of plastic products. Daily routine includes continual use of a lot of plastic bottles of sanitizers, hand washes, floor cleaners, but how exactly are they getting disposed off?

Are they not going to add mounting pressure on landfills and again clog oceans because of irresponsible waste segregation system? It's a vicious circle and the pandemic seems to have exacerbated this issue.

More recently, a French environmental NGO, Op¨¦ration Mer Propre (Operation Clean Sea), has sounded the alarm over a new type of waste piling on top of the longtime plague of plastic pollution, reports Euro News.

"It¡¯s only the beginning," the group¡¯s co-founder Joffrey Peltier told Euronews.

Diving near the French Riviera resort of Antibes to clean up the waste, the NGO found face masks and gloves littering the Mediterranean seabed alongside other rubbish such as empty cups and beer cans.

Facebook/Laurent Lombard

Op¨¦ration Mer Propre is calling on people to behave responsibly and stop littering the streets. It¡¯s also pleading for a shift away from disposable masks, plastic gloves and containers to reduce pollution at the source.

The NGO's founder Laurent Lombard, posted a video on Facebook with the caption ¡°Would you like to take a dip with COVID-19 this summer?¡±

He went on to warn that there could soon be ¡°more masks than jellyfish in the waters of the Mediterranean.¡±

If waste is not properly disposed off, but thrown on the road or the pavement, it will typically fall into a gutter, mix with rainwater and be washed out into a river or the sea,

"All it takes is a little wind or rain and everything ends up directly into the sea,¡± the NGO explains.

According to NOAA, plastic wreaks havoc on marine ecosystems. As plastic swirls around in the water, much of it breaks down to tiny pieces, called micro-plastics.

The Ocean Conservancy discovered that many fish species consume plastics debris, confusing it for real food and estimated that at least 600 different wildlife species are threatened by pollution.

This also going to pose a huge problem in India, with monsoons around the corner, this plastic waste will wash away into the sewers and ultimately into the water bodies, reports TOI.

According to a TOI report, in India, the COVID-19 pandemic has posed a unique challenge where it has to deal with an unforeseen amount of biomedical and plastic waste. In this scenario, disposal is extremely crucial given the threat of the virus spreading in certain spaces.

A study in April found that the virus can live up to 24 hours on paper, cardboard, and fabrics, compared to up to 72 hours on plastics and other hard, shiny surfaces.

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had in April issued a detailed guideline on handling COVID-19 waste and also launched an App to track the collection and disposal of the same.

Reuters

The CPCB guidelines have specific provisions on how to collect and dispose off used PPE and N95 masks. It also asks health departments of all states to provide adequate PPE including three-layer masks, splash-proof gowns, nitrile gloves, gumboots and safety goggles to workers at the CBWTF(Common Biomedical Waste Treatment Facility). These PPE are required to be worn all the time collecting of waste from quarantine centre/homes or waste deposition centre.

At this point, looking at the larger picture will make all the difference - while fighting off one crisis we might not want to plunge into another one. Make a conscious choice of using cloth masks, reduce the use of single-use plastic at all times and be mindful about disposing of waste. At the end of the day, change at individual level is what matters the most, in the fight against plastic pollution.