With the start of a pandemic, the amount of used plastic material, and thus plastic waste, has increased significantly. Played a role as a huge amount of personal protective equipment such as masks and gloves, and distribution and delivery of goods and food from restaurants, and the temporary abandonment of the fight against disposable plastic.Masks and gloves as moderately COVID-19 and related quarantine measures led to a significant reduction of harmful emissions into the atmosphere. However, other side effects of the pandemic proved less positive for the environment — significantly increased the use of plastic and, accordingly, the amount of plastic waste. Even in developed countries, who have long been fighting against plastic packaging, the need to use disposable masks and gloves, the growth of online trading and delivery of food, buying bottled water and using disposable utensils, have led to the increase in the number of such debris.Accurate data about how the increased amount of plastic waste, yet. Partly reflected a sharp rise in the use of plastic data research company Grand View Research about the growth of the market of disposable masks — last year it amounted to $800 million in the current year, the company estimates its volume will reach $166 billion, According to scientists from the Portuguese University of Aveiro, published in mid-June in the journal Environment, Science & Technology, during a pandemic in the world monthly is used 129 billion masks and gloves 65 billion.At the end of April, the world wildlife Fund (WWF) has published data scientists from the Polytechnic University of Turin, who estimated that only one in Italy after the easing of the quarantine measures we need about a billion masks, and half a billion gloves per month. As noted in the WWF, “if only 1% of these masks will be discarded incorrectly and find yourself in nature, this will lead to the fact that the environment will pollute 10 million masks a month.”Disposable Torgovlya popularity of Internet Commerce in the course of the pandemic has also contributed to increased contamination of the environment with plastic, as all goods in this case are Packed in plastic bags or film, and often, for greater security during transport, in several layers. According to the Peterson Institute for international Economics, only one China in the first quarter, a quarter of all goods were purchased online. In March, when quarantine measures were administered in Europe and the United States, the number of visitors to the Amazon from around the world increased by 65%, to 2.5 billion people. The same can be said about the service — it is Packed in plastic bags and containers, accompanied by disposable devices. In the US alone sales of the largest app food delivery Uber Eats in the first quarter grew by 54%.Photo: Alexander Koryakov, Commerce��nThese previously, many coffeehouses encouraged the visitors to bring reusable coffee mugs, providing in such cases discounts, from the beginning of the pandemic, many institutions have banned to come with their circles. In March, Starbucks, and after him some other coffee shops, has announced that in the United States and Canada will only sell coffee in disposable cups.A few days ago, more than a hundred scientists, doctors and activists of environmental organizations issued a statement that reusable containers, mugs, bottles and other items can be safely used during a pandemic in compliance with basic standards of hygiene. Among other things, they pointed out that most often the virus is transmitted by airborne droplets from person to person, not through the surface. In addition, the virus may be on any surface that was in contact with the infected person, though disposable, although reusable.So, were temporarily lifted previously imposed bans on disposable plastic bags, straws for drinks, etc. in many States, including California and new York and Massachusetts deferred the previously planned introduction of such a ban. In some States and cities, by contrast, was banned for use by customers reusable bags for shopping. In the UK a ban on disposable plastic tubes and cotton swabs, which was scheduled for April, has been rescheduled for Oct. Meanwhile, in many us States and other countries during the pandemic was reduced or temporarily discontinued its recycling, and many factories on processing of garbage stopped working during the quarantine.There are less obvious ways of how COVID-19 contributes to the spread plastic. According to David Shi, a researcher from the British University of Warwick, the fall in oil prices — the main component of many plastics — leads to a cheapening of production, which makes plastic products even more attractive for business.Global plastic oceanshaman much this growth of plastic waste can affect the oceans, the pollution of which much has been said in recent years. According to the UN, annually in the oceans turns out to be 13 million tons of plastic waste only in the Mediterranean sea annually is reset 570 thousand tonnes of plastic.Environmental organization OceansAsia in February reported that on the Soko Islands in Hong Kong, among other things, plastic garbage began to find a large number of disposable medical masks. According to one of the founders of the Gary Stokes, only one stretch of beach only about 100 m, he found 70 such masks. “Medicine has used disposable surgical masks for decades, and it wasn’t a problem because predosmotreli disposal procedure… But when the coronavirus, we saw such a massive use of masks, which all wear them every day, so a mask lying in the streets or end up in the ocean,” said Mr. Stokes.Photo: Issei Kato / ReutersУченые from another organization, Ocean Conservancy, also said that the current fascination with disposable plastic can negate efforts to combat pollution of the oceans, undertaken in recent years. “Pandemic showed how for all of us an important system for the processing and disposal of waste and how easily these systems can be overwhelmed when we focus on unnecessary disposable plastic”— note the Ocean Conservancy.Activists of the French non-governmental organization Operation Mer Propre involved in the collection of garbage in the sea in the heart of the côte d’azur, also recorded a huge number of masks, gloves and bottles of disinfectant floating in the sea. As noted by the organization’s founder, Lauren Lombard, given the fact that only in France in April, the authorities ordered the 2 billion disposable masks, “there is a risk that soon in the Mediterranean sea masks will be more than jellyfish”.Yana Christmas
