As Coronavirus Spreads So Does Single-Use Plastic. Here’s What That Means for Our Environment

The threat of coronavirus and the risk its infectious nature poses have brought back plastic like never before. Whether it's for essential equipment like sanitizers, face masks, latex gloves, syringes, or even the disposable packaging that restaurants are relying on to reduce the risk of spreading the virus through home deliveries, the pandemic has catapulted the consumption of plastic.

 Cities Are Not Only Tackling Covid, But Its Pollution, Too

All around the world the remnants of a global pandemic are testing the resolve of governments and private firms to rid the planet of its waste.

 Humans created an extra 8 million tons of plastic waste during the pandemic

Medical waste, PPE, and online shopping are driving a surge in ocean pollution.

 The Covid Crisis Is Now a Garbage Crisis, Too

Overblown fears that the coronavirus could be transmitted through surfaces have created a stigma around handling nonhazardous trash, experts say. Some recyclable waste has been junked or burned.

 Your Used Mask Needs to Make It to the Trash Can

They’re on beaches, in parking lots and on sidewalks. You probably won’t catch the coronavirus from a discarded mask, but the litter poses a risk to the environment.

'More masks than jellyfish': coronavirus waste ends up in ocean

A glut of discarded single-use masks and gloves is washing up on shorelines and littering the seabed.

About 26,000 tonnes of plastic Covid waste pollutes world’s oceans – study

The mismanaged plastic waste, consisting of personal protective equipment such as masks and gloves, vastly exceeded the capability of countries to process it properly, researchers said.

Americans May Add Five Times More Plastic to the Oceans Than Thought

The United States is using more plastic than ever, and waste exported for recycling is often mishandled, according to a new study.

Another Reason to Cut Down on Plastics

While health should be the primary concern during a pandemic, “Caring for the planet doesn’t mean we can’t care for ourselves,” said Rebecca Prince-Ruiz, who founded Plastic Free July in 2011 as a challenge for herself, her family and a few others. “We can do both at the same time.”

COVID-19 has resurrected single-use plastics – are they back to stay?

COVID-19 is changing how the U.S. disposes of waste. It is also threatening hard-fought victories that restricted or eliminated single-use disposable items, especially plastic, in cities and towns across the nation.

COVID-19 Has Worsened the Ocean Plastic Pollution Problem

A drastic increase in use of masks and gloves, plus a decline in recycling programs, is threatening the health of the seas.

Impacts of COVID-19 on single-use plastic in Europe’s environment

The COVID19 pandemic is having immense effects on societies across the world. It has caused millions of deaths worldwide and challenged our health systems and economies. The pandemic - and responses to it, involving lockdowns, use of personal protection equipment, and stay-at-home measures - has far reaching health and economic consequences.

In the West, a Connection Between Covid and Wildfires

“These results provide strong evidence that, in many counties, the high levels of PM 2.5 that occurred during the 2020 wildfires substantially exacerbated the health burden of Covid-19,” the authors wrote.

Increased plastic pollution due to COVID-19 pandemic: Challenges and recommendations

Plastics have become a severe transboundary threat to natural ecosystems and human health, with studies predicting a twofold increase in the number of plastic debris (including micro and nano-sized plastics) by 2030. However, such predictions will likely be aggravated by the excessive use and consumption of single-use plastics (including personal protective equipment such as masks and gloves) due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Plastic bags were finally being banned. Then came the pandemic

Single-use plastics are all over the front lines of the Covid-19 response.

Plastic pollution during COVID-19: Plastic waste directives and its long-term impact on the environment

Due to the pandemic, household and medical plastic waste has been amplified which is aggravating the current plastic pollution.

Plastic waste release caused by COVID-19 and its fate in the global ocean

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increased demand for single-use plastic, intensifying pressure on this already out-of-control problem.

Single-Use Plastic Is Back in the Pandemic Era

Demand for plastic bags, wraps and other hard-to-recycle items has surged amid worries about Covid-19.

The Amount Of Plastic Waste Is Surging Because Of The Coronavirus Pandemic

You’ve probably heard or read or noticed that ever since the COVID-19 shutdown, the air and water all around the planet has gotten cleaner. Yes, nature is rebounding around the world. But you also need to remember that a lot of the personal protective equipment, the masks and gloves and other medical equipment, is plastic, and much of it is being thrown carelessly away

The Archaeology of the Disposable Mask

Just two feet from the trash can lay the blue disposable, surgical mask, in stark contrast to the grimy pink sidewalk beneath it. I paused to ponder this tableau of the pandemic period. Three-ply surgical masks, like the one I spied, are designed for safety but also disposability, which should involve placement in a trash can. Yet, I now encounter them dispersed across supermarket parking lots, outside the entrance to my home, along the path to the beach.

We need to stop disposable face masks becoming our next ecological disaster

“Plastic pollution was already one of the greatest threats to our planet before the coronavirus outbreak,” says Pamela Coke-Hamilton, UNCTAD’s director of international trade. “The sudden boom in the daily use of certain products to keep people safe and stop the disease is making things much worse.”

What Covid and Clear Skies Meant to Drinking Water for 300 Million

Coronavirus lockdowns in South Asia reduced pollution that makes snow melt faster, which could help water supplies last longer this year.