Nivya Talokar* says the global effort to combat COVID-19 is in danger of producing another crisis that may prove more difficult to contain.
With the onset of the second wave of COVID-19 across the world, we are seeing a surge in testing, hoarding of protection gears, medicines, and masks.
What they all have in common is plastic.
To fight off this deadly virus, one of the main weapons is turning into a problem on its own.
The pandemic has driven the world into using more plastic.
It has been reported that single-use face mask production in China soared to 116 million per day in February, about 12 times the usual quantity.
If the global population continues to use disposable face masks at this rate, the pandemic could result in a monthly global consumption and waste of 129 billion face masks and 65 billion gloves.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits, sanitiser bottles, vaccination syringes, gloves, testing kits are everywhere, and the proper disposal of these accumulated plastics is mostly nowhere.
A total of 79 per cent of the total plastics produced in the world enter our environment as waste.
Only nine per cent is recycled.
The Indian Central Pollution Control Board puts the total annual plastic waste generation in India at a humongous 3.3 million metric tonnes per year.
Imagine the impact it will create on ocean bodies and the ecosystem.
It has been calculated that if the current scenario persists there will soon be more masks than jellyfish in the Mediterranean Sea.
The inadequacies and inefficiencies of our current waste management systems could aggravate the mismanagement of plastic and its leakage into the environment.
This could trigger an environmental crisis, especially in countries like India where municipal waste collection bodies directly dump more than 110 million tonnes into landfill sites in a haphazard manner.
Improper disposal of just one per cent of face masks translates to more than 10 million items, weighing about 30,000 kilograms.
While industry in India has long argued that reducing plastic production is too difficult, too expensive, and time-consuming, ways to dismantle the system of single-use plastic were being developed.
The pandemic swept away those efforts, and now the global plastic packaging market is projected to grow from $US909.2 billion ($A1,66 billion) in 2019 to $US1,012 billion ($A1,308 billion) by 2021, at a compound annual growth rate of 5.5 per cent.
Waterlogged COVID-19–related plastic is already being observed on beaches and in water, potentially aggravating the challenge of curtailing micro-plastics.
Unless the handling of COVID-19-induced plastic is not addressed, the scenario will just worsen with rapid global warming and a major climate crisis.
Several studies are being undertaken across the globe to find an answer to this problem.
One suggests a strategy that could help mitigate the problem of dumped PPE.
Research from the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies in Uttarakhand, India shows how billions of items of disposable PPE can be converted from its polypropylene (plastic) state into bio-fuels.
General awareness, building international willingness and participation to curb any form of pollution through summits and agendas is a necessity.
Transition towards environmentally friendly materials like bioplastics and developing new sustainable technologies will be crucial to fighting future pandemics.
Adhering to cloth face masks that are more sustainable and reusable is something the general population can adopt.
Also, there are many sustainable alternatives to non-biodegradable gloves which can be used.
Individual responsibility, corporate action, and Government policy are all necessary to keep us from transitioning from one disaster to another.
We have to remember that battling the climate crisis due to plastic waste in the long run is much more complex than tackling viruses.
It’s necessary to take initiatives at an individual level to limit plastic usage in day-to-day life.
*Nivya Talokar is a third-year biotech student at KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
This article first appeared on The Rise website.
