The COVID-19 pandemic and single-use plastic waste in households: A preliminary study.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Leal Filho W
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8799403 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Plastic products have played significant roles in protecting people during the COVID-19 pandemic. The widespread use of personal protective gear created a massive disruption in the supply chain and waste disposal system. Millions of discarded single-use plastics (masks, gloves, aprons, and bottles of sanitizers) have been added to the terrestrial environment and could cause a surge in plastics washing up the ocean coastlines and littering the seabed. This paper attempts to assess the environmental footprints of the global plastic wastes generated during COVID-19 and analyze the potential impacts associated with plastic pollution. The amount of plastic wastes generated worldwide since the outbreak is estimated at 1.6 million tonnes/day. We estimate that approximately 3.4 billion single-use facemasks/face shields are discarded daily as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, globally. Our comprehensive data analysis does indicate that COVID-19 will reverse the momentum of years-long global battle to reduce plastic waste pollution. As governments are looking to turbo-charge the economy by supporting businesses weather the pandemic, there is an opportunity to rebuild new industries that can innovate new reusable or non-plastic PPEs. The unanticipated occurrence of a pandemic of this scale has resulted in unmanageable levels of biomedical plastic wastes. This expert insight attempts to raise awareness for the adoption of dynamic waste management strategies targeted at reducing environmental contamination by plastics generated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Project description:The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented disruptions to food systems, leading to both food shortages and food waste across the supply chain. These disruptions have, in turn, altered how people consume and then ultimately discard food. To better understand these impacts, their underlying drivers, and their sustainability implications, this study surveyed U.S. consumers about food purchasing, use, and waste behaviors during the pandemic. Survey respondents reported an increase in overall food purchases and a slight decrease in food waste generation due to the pandemic, but the linkages between these outcomes and underlying behaviors were complex. For instance, reduced household food waste was significantly correlated with an increase in behaviors such as meal planning, preserving foods, and using leftovers and shelf-stable items. On the other hand, behaviors aimed at self-sufficiency, including bulk purchasing and stockpiling, were significantly correlated with increased food purchase, which in turn led to increased waste. Results may offer insight for future resource and waste management strategies. For example, over 60% of respondents who started or increased efficient food use behaviors stated an intent to continue these activities after the pandemic. In contrast, less than 10% of respondents reported that they began or increased separating or composting food waste during the pandemic, and many stopped altogether due to suspension of local curbside composting services. Findings suggest that it may be easier to shift food consumption and use behaviors but more challenging to alter food waste separation behaviors, particularly those influenced by external factors, such as infrastructure that may be vulnerable to disruption. Identifying ways to facilitate ongoing behavior change and foster robust food waste management systems can contribute to resilience of food systems now and once the immediate threat of the pandemic has subsided.
| S-EPMC8536943 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Majority of the million tons of plastic produced each year is being disposed after single-use. Plastic bottle, bags, food containers, gloves, and cup that end up in landfills and environment could linger for hundreds to thousands of years. Moreover, COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), will also exacerbate the global plastic pollution as the use of personal protective equipment (PPE i.e., gloves, masks) became mandatory to prevent the spread of the virus. Plastic eventually breaking down in micro & nanoscopic bits due to physical or chemical or biological actions in the environment, can enter animal and human food web. So, plastic management programs need to be more robust with a focus on the prevention of the micro and nanoplastics entrance into the environment and food web. In the present pandemic situation, it is even more necessary to know about how much plastic waste is being generated and how different countries are coping up with their plastic waste management. In this review, we have elucidated how global plastic production rise during COVID-19 and how it would contribute to short and long-term impacts on the environment. Plastic pollution during the pandemic will increase the GHS emissions in the incineration facilities. Improper disposal of plastics into the oceans and lands would endanger the marine species and subsequently human lives. We have also assessed how the increased plastic pollution will aggravate the micro and nanoscale plastic problem, which have now become an emerging concern. This review will be helpful for people to understand the plastic usage and its subsequent consequences in the environment in a pandemic like COVID-19.
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Project description:The COVID-19 pandemic caused a surge in consumption of single-use plastics (SUPs), particularly in the food service sector, due to concerns for public health and safety. To follow public health guidelines, food services have been limited to takeout service and have restricted use of personal reusable items. This study investigated opportunities to reduce increased use of SUPs in Nova Scotia food services sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic using semi-structured interviews and focus groups with stakeholders from the food service sector. Many participants had already implemented SUP reduction strategies prior to COVID-19. However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses to rely on SUPs and to pause SUP reduction strategies. Obstacles to SUP reduction included operational challenges from COVID-19 restrictions, misunderstanding of local waste management systems, costs of transitioning to zero plastic waste, poorly manufactured alternatives, greenwashing, and ingrained societal convenience culture. Whilst not all SUP consumption patterns were attributed to COVID-19, these barriers prevented food retailers, waste managers and consumers from achieving zero-plastic waste goals. Food services should adopt SUP reduction strategies, including re-introducing reusables, implementing exchange programs for bulk items and takeout, providing education and awareness to staff and consumers, and sourcing sustainable SUP alternatives. SUP reduction strategies can be implemented immediately as public health officials and researchers agree reusable items can be used safely when using basic hygiene measures. Food services across Nova Scotia should adapt their operational procedures and create behaviour change to reduce SUPs. Graphical abstract Image, graphical abstract
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Project description:The COVID-19 pandemic led to a huge surge in deposits, although little is known about how this was distributed. This paper overcomes the lack of timely micro-data on households' liquidity by looking at supervisory data, introducing a new method to estimate the trend in liquidity distribution and the percentage of liquidity-poor households. We find that in 2020 there was a decrease both in the degree of deposit inequality among Italian households and in the share of liquidity-poor households, alongside government support measures that allowed some households at the bottom of the liquidity ladder to save out of their declining income. The increase in households' liquidity improved their ability to repay debts, and this could help spending patterns to rebound once confidence about the economic outlook is restored. Despite this, households with insufficient liquidity buffers still constitute a large share of population, making their debt repayment capacity dependent on the strength of the economic recovery.
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Project description: Not available
| S-BSST1055 | biostudies-other
Project description:The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increased demand for single-use plastics that intensifies pressure on an already out-of-control global plastic waste problem. While it is suspected to be large, the magnitude and fate of this pandemic-associated mismanaged plastic waste are unknown. Here, we use our MITgcm ocean plastic model to quantify the impact of the pandemic on plastic discharge. We show that 8.4 ± 1.4 million tons of pandemic-associated plastic waste have been generated from 193 countries as of August 23, 2021, with 25.9 ± 3.8 thousand tons released into the global ocean representing 1.5 ± 0.2% of the global total riverine plastic discharge. The model projects that the spatial distribution of the discharge changes rapidly in the global ocean within 3 y, with a significant portion of plastic debris landing on the beach and seabed later and a circumpolar plastic accumulation zone will be formed in the Arctic. We find hospital waste represents the bulk of the global discharge (73%), and most of the global discharge is from Asia (72%), which calls for better management of medical waste in developing countries.
| S-EPMC8617455 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The World Health Organization has recently declared South America the new epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, as Brazil has become one of the most affected countries. Besides public health and economic impacts, social isolation has also caused indirect environmental effects. The aim of this study was to assess environmental impacts caused by shifts on solid waste production and management due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. We have analyzed data from 30 cities, representing a population of more than 53.8 million people (25.4% of the Brazilian population). Unexpectedly, solid waste production in the main cities in Brazil has decreased during the social isolation period, possibly because of reduced activity in commercial areas. The latest data on solid waste in Brazil have revealed that more than 35% of medical waste has not been treated properly. Furthermore, improper disposal of facemasks has been reported in several cities and may increase the risk for COVID-19 spread. The suspension of recycling programs has hindered natural resources from being saved, with emphasis on 24,076 MWh of electric power and 185,929 m3 of potable water - respectively enough to supply 152,475 households and 40,010 people, over a month. Furthermore, total sale price for recyclable materials during the suspension of recycling programs reaches more than 781 thousand dollars, being these materials disposed in landfills - demanding an extra volume of 19,000 m3 - reducing landfill lifespan, and hence causing a double loss: economic and environmental.
| S-EPMC7526525 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Graphical abstract Highlights • Plastic policy was adapted due to COVID-19 pandemic.• COVID-19 pandemic is contributing to worldwide plastic pollution.• COVID-19 precautionary measures challenged environmental sustainability.• Sustainability calls for straightened links between policy-industry-research. 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. This review aimed to provide a comprehensive overview on the effects of COVID-19 on macroplastic pollution and its potential implications on the environment and human health considering short- and long-term scenarios; addressing the main challenges and discussing potential strategies to overcome them. It emphasises that future measures, involved in an emergent health crisis or not, should reflect a balance between public health and environmental safety as they are both undoubtedly connected. Although the use and consumption of plastics significantly improved our quality of life, it is crucial to shift towards sustainable alternatives, such as bio-based plastics. Plastics should remain in the top of the political agenda in Europe and across the world, not only to minimise plastic leakage and pollution, but to promote sustainable growth and to stimulate both green and blue- economies. Discussions on this topic, particularly considering the excessive use of plastic, should start soon with the involvement of the scientific community, plastic producers and politicians in order to be prepared for the near future.
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