The chart shows the plastic demand by segment. Demand for medical products and packaging is increasing sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: Jaromír Kleme, Yee Van Fan a, Raymond R. Tan b, and Peng Jiang c, “Minimising the present and future plastic waste, energy and environmental footprints related to COVID-19” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 127 (2020)
Comparison of infectious waste ratio (%) with before Covid-19 pandemic
in the studied hospitals
Source: Roshanak Rezaei Kalantary, Arsalan Jamshidi, Mohammad Mehdi Golbini Mofrad, Ahmad Jonidi Jafari, Neda Heidari, Saeid Fallahizadeh, Mohsen Hesami Arani & Javad Torkashvand “ Journal of Environmental Health Science and Engineering“(2021)
A range of personal protective equipment (PPE) made from plastics have played important roles in protecting people during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is a growing concern over the increase in single-use plastics (SUPs) including gloves, protective medical suits, masks, hand sanitizer bottles, takeout plastics, food and polyethylene goods packages, and medical test kits since the coronavirus pandemic began .
The raw material of the mask is mainly non-woven fabric made of polypropylene with high melt index. Polypropylene is a semi-crystalline thermoplastic. Ordinary medical surgical masks use one layer of meltblown cloth, and N95 masks use at least three layers of meltblown cloth .According to Chinese official media reports, in China, the national daily output of masks is 116 million, not to mention this. The number of protective clothing is the same, and plastic is the main material of gloves and protective clothing.
Disposable coffee cups seem to be made of paper, but they are actually lined with plastic to make them stronger and more heat-resistant, and they can hardly be recycled.About 10 years ago in 2011, according to statistics, 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups were thrown away every year. As more and more countries begin to consume coffee from international chain stores, this number will definitely be higher.After the outbreak of the epidemic, people began to reduce eating in restaurants, so the demand for takeout soared, which led to an increase in the use of plastic boxes and plastic packaging for takeout.
During the COVID19 situation people use a lot of single-use plastics and believe that it’s cleaner than using reusables but in fact it doesn’t. More than 125 virologists, epidemiologists, and health experts from 18 different countries said it’s clear that reusables are safe to use during the pandemic. Here are some supporting information
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC), “The virus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person or between people who are in close contact with one another, through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes or talks.” While “it may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes,” aerosolized droplets are the only documented method of COVID-19 transmission to date.
Studies show that the COVID-19 virus can remain infectious on surfaces for varying times depending on the material. One study showed infectious virus lasted up to 24 hours on paper and cardboard and between 2-3 days on plastic and stainless steel’ In another study, infectious virus on print or tissue paper, whereas it was active up to 1 day on cloth, up to 3 days on glass, and 6 days on plastic and stainless steel. To prevent transmission through objects and surfaces, one can assume that any object or surface in a public space — reusable or disposable — could be contaminated with the virus. Single-use plastic is not inherently safer than reusables, and causes additional public health concerns once it is discarded.
Most common approved household disinfectants should be effective for disinfecting hard 6 surfaces, including reusable items, with such surfaces being cleaned thoroughly using a detergent or soap and hot water. Similarly, washing hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub, and then avoiding touching your eyes, mouth, or nose are effective ways to protect yourself.
1. Avoid using and giving Single-use plastics such as spoon fork and straw.
2. Try to use biodegradable packaging
3. Choose reusable packaging
4. Add option to say no to disposable cutlery in food delivery application
More information about waste, involve to COVID19 pandemic
Created by:Chia Yang Yeh