Plastic, the Pandemic, and the Environment
September 14, 2021
This post was written by Ranyelle Andrade. Ranyelle is an intern with Alhambra US Chamber.
The Covid-19 pandemic has changed consumer habits across the world. Due to the need for social distancing, online shopping has soared across all sectors. Because of this, the use of plastic has dramatically increased around the world. An explosion of food deliveries and shipments of non-perishable goods coincided with an increase in the production of disposable medical materials such as masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, and other PPE. This is a major issue because plastic is usually not biodegradable, and its production and disposal is a driver of climate change. It impacts organisms in a variety of environments by its physical and chemical effects. However, we can take action as citizens and customers to steer businesses and governments in the right direction regarding plastics, so that the planet we live on can stay habitable for the future.
According to a UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) study, plastic is the biggest environmental challenge of the 21st century, as it is estimated that every year 13 million tons of plastic waste are disposed of in nature. The same agency also found that half of all plastic produced is designed for only one use before disposal. It is therefore extremely important to assess the environmental impacts not only during production and use, but also after use. We need to reuse more plastics to help reduce waste.
Plastic, when not disposed of correctly, will end up in streets, sewers, rivers, dumps, landfills, forests, and oceans. The impacts caused by plastic on the environment are countless. As they decompose in the environment, plastics release greenhouse gases, thereby contributing to climate change.
The UNEP also found that 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into the oceans, disrupting the ecosystem and harming the lives of marine animals. Fishing nets get lost in the oceans and tangle up wildlife, accounting for 20% of all marine plastic pollution. Plastic pollution still affects the quality of air, soil, and water supply systems, as incorrect disposal in nature pollutes aquifers and reservoirs. The tons of garbage dumped into the sea each year by the population living on the coast is a serious problem for marine fauna and flora, for the health of people, traditional communities, and tourism.
With the increasing change we are going through due to the pandemic, global trends in plastic need to be analyzed, and we must figure out innovative solutions in order to balance environmental sustainability with the cleanliness and usefulness plastics can bring. Recycling, which is a process that reintroduces the product into the production cycle, can transform an already used material into raw material, to form a new product with the same characteristics.
According to the UNEP, only 9% of all plastic produced is recycled. This is a result of the single-use nature of so many plastics, the fact that some consumers are reluctant to take the step of separating recyclables from garbage, and the fact that many communities do not have access to recycling facilities. These are structural issues that will take collective action to resolve.
As individuals, there are steps that everyone can take to contribute to reducing plastic and its negative impact on the environment. For example, we must learn to make cleaning and sorting materials for recycling a firm habit. We must do our part to reduce our consumption of plastic, especially considering that in developed countries the average person might use almost a pound of plastic per month. We should avoid throwing hygiene materials, such as gloves and masks, in the recycle bin and separate them in their own trash bags whenever possible. Citizens can also reduce their consumption of fish so that fewer nets get lost in the currents and damage ecosystems.
Another sustainable solution that could increase recycling is new municipal plans for solid waste, disposal of dumps, annual declarations on the amount of waste produced by region, selective collection systems, and policies that place responsibility for waste disposal on the industries producing that waste. Consumers can have some impact, but just 20 corporations produced 55% of the plastic waste in the world. Stricter national and international regulations will likely be needed to reduce the pollution and greenhouse effect associated with this waste.
Recycling must be promoted and implemented by all citizens and governments. We must reconsider our attitudes and behavior to reduce the negative impact of plastic on the environment. Only in this way will we be able to achieve a more sustainable and conscious policy on product use to avoid harming the planet.
The Alhambra-US Chamber takes environmental issues very seriously and has even partnered with EnviroJordan to promote environmental science education. If this blog post interested you, please be sure to check out our other blogs and connect with us on our other media platforms:
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