Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the use of single-use plastics, ranging from disposable masks to single-serve utensils and plastic take-out bags. Plastics are found in all sorts of containers, including bottles and jars (Environmental Protection Agency, 2020). They are also prevalent in durable goods such as appliances and furniture. Additionally, plastics are in nondurable products like trash bags, cups, and utensils. The quality and type of plastic resins in these products vary, but all that are disposed contribute to plastic waste. This creates an environmental problem as we grapple with how to dispose of said waste.
Current Status
Prior to COVID-19, plastics were already a growing sector of municipal solid waste. From 2010 to 2018 the United States’ amount of plastics in municipal solid waste increased from about 31 million tons to almost 36 million tons (Environmental Protection Agency, 2020). In 2018, only about three million tons was recycled, a relatively small percentage of 8.5% of the plastic waste generated.
Conflicting Views on Widespread Use of Single-Use Plastics
Against
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is a non-profit founded in the 1970s that works to promote environmental justice. They represent a leading voice against single-use plastics, arguing that they are a “glaring example of the problems with our throwaway culture” (Lindwall, 2020). Single-use plastics greatly contribute to our waste, as stated above. NRDC argues this is particularly dangerous because of the potential negative health effects of plastics as they break down into microplastics. Microplastics accumulate in the environment and wildlife, then making their way into our bodies. Some of these microplastics and chemicals added to plastics have been shown to be harmful to humans, via causing cancer or endocrine disruption. For all these reasons, the NRDC is against the use of single-use plastics in most scenarios, and argues for their reduction.
For
On the other side, companies that produce plastic materials are for the use of plastic bags and other single-use plastics. A leading voice of this opinion is the Plastics Industry Association, a lobbying group that represents interests of plastics companies. Since the 1980s, the Plastics Industry Association has been fighting against plastic bag bans and other such bans of single-use plastics (Root, 2019). Lobbyists argue that plastics are more environmentally friendly to create than other products such as paper bags, and lighter, allowing for more efficient shipping. They have also argued that reusable bags are hard to clean, increasing the risk of bacteria on items and causing a health hazard.
Image by Mabel Amber from Pixabay
COVID-19 & Single-Use Plastic Research
With the increase in single-use plastics necessitated by some of the precautions taken during the COVID-19 pandemic, research is currently being done to investigate those effects and possible mitigation strategies.
Estimated that 129 billion face masks and 65 billion gloves used over a month period globally (Prata et. al, 2020). This is a risk to public health, as the waste is a potential vector for SARS-CoV-2 (some evidence indicates the virus survives up to three days on plastics).
As a response to COVID-19 transmission concerns, some U.S. states (Massachusetts and New Hampshire) have reinstated the use of single-use plastics and banned reusable alternatives (Patricio Silva et. al, 2020). Other states such as Oregon, New York, and Hawaii, as well as countries such as the United Kingdom, have postponed single-use plastic bans.
In addition to postponing or removing bans, more single-use plastics are being used as disinfectant cloths and disposable protective plastic coverings as businesses reopen (Patricio Silva et. al, 2020).
Demand for plastics “expected to increase by 40% in packaging and 17% in other applications” (Patricio Silva et. al, 2021).
Proposed Solutions
Prioritize bio-based plastics over those made from fossil fuels (Patricio Silva et. al, 2020).
Continue to incentivize single-use plastic bans.
Regulate plastic waste disposal even more strongly in light of the increase in waste.
Encourage reusable grocery bags with mitigation strategies such as appropriate disinfection to counter potential transmission concerns (Patricio Silva et. al, 2021).
Stimulate citizen science and partner academic institutions with government organizations to increase public awareness about single-use plastics.
Analysis
Despite the range of proposed solutions, such as switching to bio-based plastics and continuing to discourage single-use plastics, none of these seem to be realistically being pursued at the moment. Instead of moving ahead with bans, many areas are postponing or even reversing them. This is not encouraging for a greater plan to handle the increasing single-use plastic waste that has come with the COVID-19 pandemic. At this point, especially with the current dramatic global increase in cases, the focus seems to be all on the health effects of the pandemic and not on the long-term environmental consequences. Hopefully as cases decrease and a vaccine is distributed, we can begin to focus on the long-term consequences of our changed behavior around single-use plastics and implement some of these proposed solutions.
References
Agency, E. P. (2020, 9/10/2020). Plastics: Material-Specific Data. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/plastics-material-specific-data
Amber, M. (2018.) Bottle water floating (Photograph). Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=3673761.
Hirst, S. (2012.) Recycle (Photograph). Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=57136.
Lindwall, C. (2020, 1/9/2020). Single-Use Plastics 101. Retrieved from https://www.nrdc.org/stories/single-use-plastics-101
Patrício Silva, A. L., Prata, J. C., Walker, T. R., Campos, D., Duarte, A. C., Soares, A., . . . Rocha-Santos, T. (2020). Rethinking and optimising plastic waste management under COVID-19 pandemic: Policy solutions based on redesign and reduction of single-use plastics and personal protective equipment. Science of the Total Environment, 742, 140565. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140565
Patrício Silva, A. L., Prata, J. C., Walker, T. R., Duarte, A. C., Ouyang, W., Barcelò, D., & Rocha-Santos, T. (2021). Increased plastic pollution due to COVID-19 pandemic: Challenges and recommendations. Chemical Engineering Journal (Lausanne, Switzerland: 1996), 405, 126683. doi:10.1016/j.cej.2020.126683
Prata, J. C., Silva, A. L. P., Walker, T. R., Duarte, A. C., & Rocha-Santos, T. (2020). COVID-19 Pandemic Repercussions on the Use and Management of Plastics. Environmental Science & Technology, 54(13), 7760-7765. doi:10.1021/acs.est.0c02178
Rita, E. (2017.) Garbage (Photograph). Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/garbage-waste-container-waste-2729608/.
Root, T. (2019). Inside the long war to protect plastic. The World. Retrieved from Pushing plastics website: https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-05-16/inside-long-war-protect-plastic
Tomakov, S. (2020). Pollution (Photograph). Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/pollution-trash-garbage-ocean-4855507/.